Not Alone
by aemelia113
Summary: What if there was a halfa who was born and not made, who was a Phan girl that wanted to meet her hero? Tempest is that half-ghost hybrid and this is her story. Hijinks ensue as both Danny and Tempest try to juggle their double lives. Yes, there is shipping Danny X OC. I will say that up front, but not apologetically.
1. Prologue: Lonely

Author's Note: Hello! Sorry, friends. I know I promised to work more on my Forever fic, but my Supernatural fic distracted me with shiny inspiration thanks to a Pinterest session filled with Supernatural hilarity. Which naturally led to reading SuperPhantom fics, which whacked me over the head with a story idea for DP, being a Phan girl. So, here it is, the first chapter anyway. Then I swear I will put everything I can into When the Past Comes Back to Behead You as soon as I can figure out where to go from where I'm at. Best Wishes, Me.

Prologue: Lonely

I was always told to stay away from Phantom. "That awful ghost child" was to never ever come near me. If anybody saw him around the Zone, they told my dad or my "uncles" and I had to stay in my realm, enforced by my dog, Cujo. He was more afraid of my dad than me. I wanted desperately to meet Phantom. He was just like me, a half ghost, though I was born, not made. Don't ask me how it works because when my dad tried to give me my unique version of "the talk," I flew away screeching like a banshee and he never brought it up again. I was kind of glad. Human health class was awkward enough. Anyway, I tried to sneak out a bunch of times to meet him, but the Ghost Zone is semi-infinite. Pretty huge, anyway. Too huge for a lone ghost girl to wander around looking for Phantom and go unnoticed by all of her father's friends and goons and actually find him before getting dragged back home. It took me ages, but one day I finally got mad enough to escape the Zone entirely and go looking for my hero in the human world. But I guess for you, I'm starting in the middle of the story. I suppose some background would be appropriate here.

I was born to a human mother and a ghost father. Again, no idea how that works. I think it may be a special form of overshadowing, but whatever. Mom's name was Lucy Pells and my dad is the infamous Vortex. That's right. The one who bends the heavens and creates devastating weather with a snap of his fingers. If _you_ find him intimidating, just imagine being his teenage daughter. Did you imagine it? Did you nearly pee yourself? No? Then you didn't get it quite scary enough. Make no mistake, though. My parents were in love. My mom fell for a terrifying dead thing and my dad fell for a lowly fleshy human. But they made it work for awhile and they managed to have me. So it looks at first like Baby Me is gonna be all normal and humany, pink-cheeked with a shock of pale blonde hair and big brownish-green eyes. Then I have my second-ever cry when we get home from the hospital and two orange rings appear around my waist and move towards my feet and head and suddenly Baby Me is poison green with pointy ears, blood red hair, and glowing highlighter-esque yellow eyes. Understandably, my mom freaks out and drops me with a scream. But no worries, I didn't hit the ground. I floated about three feet off of it and drifted around, giggling at the new sensation. My mom scoops me up and is babbling like crazy, worried about me being dead, but Dad explains that I'm just half ghost and the transformations are normal. Given time and teaching, I will learn to control them and my other powers. But until then, he says, they have to keep Baby Me away from nosy humans who would put me in a lab or try to hurt me. So our family pretty much stays in my mom's house on the outskirts of a town in Michigan, halfway into a stretch of vibrant woodland, out of sight.

I grew up pretty normal, considering. Only difference is my tantrums and illnesses came with bouts of ecto-lasers and intangibility and more floating. As I got older, heat waves, wind, and indoor snow came into the mix. But my personal specialty was lightning. I could make the most beautiful controlled fireworks displays of lightning ever, sometimes better than Dad. By the time I was six, I had a pretty good handle on my powers and I knew better than to tell anybody anything about me or my dad, so I got to go to school. If anyone asked, I told them he was dead, which was technically true. Life progressed pretty much the same for five years. I had my human life of school, friends, and dance practice (because I loved ballet), the same as everyone else. Then I had my ghost life, practicing powers with Dad and getting peeks into the Ghost Zone when a portal cropped up. I even met a few of my Dad's friends, Technus, Skulker, and the Fright Knight. Skulker taught me so much about animals, ghostly and not, but I preferred to use what I knew to save them and their habitats, not hunt them. My mom was a bit of a hippie and I guess it rubbed off on me in my love of nature. Technus taught me about computers, and even though I wasn't a genius hacker, I made the best Powerpoint presentations in the fourth grade. I told my teacher that my uncle was a Geek Squad dude. The Fright Knight taught me about honor and how to battle properly. When George Mason took my friend Anna's Barbie, my right hook broke his nose, and I got in trouble, but no one ever messed with her or me again. Everything was pretty good. Then the Observants came in and screwed everything up.

You see, a union like my parents' was forbidden with a capital OR ELSE. Dad kept a pretty tight lid on things, but some punk ratted us out to the Observants and Walker's goons descended. We ran, of course. Dad stayed behind and fought them back, but he was captured and locked away. You probably know that story, how Plasmius freed him and he went on a little bit of a weather rampage after being cooped up so long. I promise he's usually not that destructive, but he is always that intense. About everything. Anyway, back to my tragic backstory. My mom and I drove away while Dad covered us, but one of the goons blew our back tires and we smashed through a guard rail, flipping over and over until we landed upside down. I had transformed instinctively, but I couldn't reach over and turn Mom intangible in time. When we rolled to a stop, I was pretty messed up, but her neck was broken three different ways and her blue eyes stared empty, unblinking, at me, her arm still outstretched to try and protect me. I have never forgiven myself for letting her die like that. If I'd only been faster, she wouldn't have suffered. She'd still be alive. I freed myself from the wreckage, but when I went back for her body, I was so messed up that my hands heated up to 200 degrees without my say-so and I caught the car on fire. I still managed to pull her out, my arms covered in burns whose scars are still there in my human form to this day. I learned later that the police had me declared missing and likely dead when they found the wreckage, and grandparents I hardly knew buried my mom. The goons had not helped me, but they had caught up to me and were waiting for the rest of the squad to arrive. Walker landed and looked me up and down, taking in my bedraggled appearance at a glance.

"You're one of us," he said. "At least in part. And you are only a child, innocent in all this. You can choose to live in the human world or we can take you to the Ghost Zone and give you your father's realm to live in until he is released from his sentence. Choose now, ghost child."

"Well, I no longer have any _living_ family," I said accusingly. "I want to go to the Ghost Zone in case my mom becomes one and to wait until Dad gets out."

Walker smiled smugly. "Excellent choice. Let's go."

So we flew into a portal made by a large wolf-creature in a green prison jumpsuit. I was shown to a floating door marked with a cloud and a lightning bolt. My father's lair. The door opened to reveal a big house floating on a lawn made of clouds, with other little cloud islands carrying different things floating around. Tears came to my eyes. It was beautiful, this place he'd built for our family to live in one day.

"Welcome home," Walker drawled, then left with the goons.

The three ghosts I'd come to think of as my uncles showed up and I cried in earnest, blubbering out what had happened. They were all uncomfortable with this display of sadness, but they stayed and promised to keep an eye out for my mother. I stayed in the cloud house for days (or whatever counted as days in the Zone), making little storms and missing my family terribly. Every day, one of my uncles would show up and tell me there had been no sign, and finally I had to accept that my mother's spirit had moved on and left me behind. I was angry at first , then glad that maybe she had some peace, but the guilt over her death never went away. Pretty depressing, I know. Now, onto better times. I spent the next three years exploring my new home. Most of the time I was met with territorial hostility and disgust. I was a criminal's daughter. Most knew about my hybrid status, and few accepted me. But sometimes, I found a friend. Ember and I shared a love of music, though I liked dancing better than playing. Dora rarely left her brother's kingdom, but she seemed nice enough, if a bit of a doormat. Desiree's profound hatred of men was a little off-putting, but we hung out a time or two. Then there was Cujo. He was a sweet little lost puppy that disappeared into the human world a lot after the portal opened for awhile. Then Phantom helped him, and he stayed around more. Sure, he kept me inside when I wanted to go out, but he was good company. We played fetch a lot. I missed the trees of home, but Skulker's island jungle was a pretty decent substitute. I visited my uncles often. I wasn't sure sometimes where my opinion stood on the subject of their repeated troublemaking in the human world. I sympathized with their disappointment at failing to take over the world, but at the same time, I was glad that they hadn't succeeded. Technus, as much as I love him, can barely go to book club without arguing with someone (and by arguing I mean ecto-blast fighting with yelling). I can't imagine him successfully leading the world. So Phantom, the ghost who fights ghosts, was basically my hero, even before I learned that he was a halfa like me.

Right, I mentioned the portal, didn't I? Well, I guess that's pretty important. The whole Zone trembled with the force of a hole between the worlds tearing open. Suddenly, it was vogue to go hang in the human dimension. I, being a spunky fourteen year old girl as well as a ghost, really wanted to go, but my uncles said no. It was too dangerous for me. It was dangerous enough for ordinary ghosts. If I got captured, it would be a lot worse. I snuck over anyway, too curious about how the world had changed in my absence to resist. I was in a place called Amity Park, still in America, only a couple states away from my old hometown. I flew the streets for a little while. Then I found a little park and I squealed for joy. I zoomed down to a hidden corner, transformed in a flash of red rings, and just rolled in the grass, feeling the solid earth beneath my toes. I reveled in the sights, the smells, the everything. I hadn't realized just how much I missed it here. When I acclimated to the awesomeness of real plants that didn't try to re-kill you, I noticed that my outfit was the same as it had been the last time I had been human, the night my mother died, but bigger. Long green dress with flowing sleeves, brown vest, brown sandals I had kicked off to frolic, yellow butterfly clip in my pale blonde hair, which had been growing when my ghost hair had not. It fell straight down to my waist. I was relieved that my -ahem- womanly features had developed in human form as well as ghost form. I had a little control over my ghost outfit, seeing as I hadn't died all the way, so I got to pick what it looked like. Since most ghosts didn't do the whole wardrobe change thing, I stuck with an orange jumpsuit, like Phantom's, except it was sleeveless with a high collar that covered my neck, with two red belts overlapping in an X at my waist and red curlicue stripes along the sides and red boots and gloves. I have to say, if it weren't for the green death pallor, I'd look pretty hot. Oops. I'm getting off track again, aren't I? Sorry.

So, I finish rolling in the grass like a crazy person and stroll towards the more populated area of the park. I figured I could observe people for a bit before talking to anybody and giving myself away as a weirdo stranger who had no idea what had been going on for the past three years. My reconnaissance was going pretty well, and I was learning that not much had changed, when suddenly the sky was filled with screeching and ecto-blasts. I was ready to leap into action as necessary (My first real ghost battle! Not just sparring with Uncle Fright), but I was not needed because there, pummeling a couple of ecto-puses, was _him_ , Phantom! I had idolized the dude a lot, but I had no idea that he was my age. And really, really cute. He socked one of the creatures that was trying to pick up a hot dog cart with its tentacles and quipped, "Easy, Oswald. Don't you know what's in those things? You're better off vegetarian." I had to laugh. I realized then that I was standing watching the battle all dreamy-eyed instead of running away like the sensible, normal, not sticking out like a sore thumb park-goers. I retreated to a safe distance, but kept watching Phantom beat the two ghosts into the ground. It occurred to me that he was a ghost and I was part ghost, so maybe I should have been cheering for the ecto-puses, but I was also part human, so I cheered for Phantom and humanity internally. When he sucked them into a thermos and capped it with a practiced motion full of confidence, I swooned. Yup, I was crushing hard. He flew off to deposit them back in the Zone, never seeing me, but I was thrilled. I hadn't even come here to see him, and I had witnessed him throw down with a couple of ghosts. I was ecstatic. I knew then and there that I wanted to do what he did, and keep people safe. I ducked behind a tree, transformed, and got ready to follow him when I felt a hand come down on my shoulder.

"Tempest," Uncle Skulker said. Dangit! I forgot sometimes that he was the Zone's greatest hunter. Of course he'd found me.

"Heya, Uncle Skulker. What brings you here?" I asked as casually as possible.

"I told you repeatedly that you were not to go to the human world, and especially that you were to stay away from that whelp, Phantom. What brings me here is that you broke that promise," he rumbled brusquely. Well, so much for casual.

"I'm sorry. I just really missed living trees and a sky with actual clouds and stuff. I didn't come here looking for him, I swear. He never even saw me," I told him.

He sighed, "I should have known you would miss the place where you spent most of your life. How about a compromise? You may go to the human world anywhere except here and Wisconsin, and you stay away from Phantom and Plasmius. As long as you obey those two rules, anywhere else in this world is open to you. Does that sound fair?"

"Oh, Skulker! Yes, it sounds super fair. I promise to obey the rules and you won't regret it, I swear. Thank you, thank you, thank you!" I exclaimed, hugging him. I already knew about Vlad, the mad hybrid and I had no desire to go anywhere near him anyway.

"I am glad to make you happy," he said, smiling. "Now let's go before that menace sucks us into that abysmal thermos of his."

So that was my first "encounter" with Phantom, and my first time back in the human world in three years. It was pretty great. I took Skulker up on his offer and took little, less permanent portals around the globe, helping people, hunting other ghosts. I considered wearing a mask to protect my identity, but most ghosts already hated me. This was only another reason to add to the list of them that had the word abomination at the top in red ink. I never had reason to quarrel with my friends and family. They stuck to Amity Park, the place with a reliable portal, the one place I could never go. I did get stuck on the wrong side of a portal once, in Kiev. Luckily, my mother's family had Ukrainian roots and I knew a little of the language. I spent a couple of days celebrating with grateful townspeople. The tavern provided my meals and I danced for them, to their delight, to the tune of a small band that frequented the establishment. These people were a lot more accepting of me than the ghosts were. It was pretty nice, actually. Skulker had Frostbite use the Infimap to find me, and that was the first time I met the people of the Far Frozen. I chilled with them for a few days (See what I did there?), looking at their chronicle of Phantom's defeat of Pariah Dark, the Ghost King, talking shop about ice-type weather powers. They really liked my lightning show and taught me how to turn a pretty spectacle into a weapon. It turned out to be really handy. Oh, I forgot to mention where the heck I was at during the whole Ghost King debacle. Plasmius really manages to get himself in trouble, but I guess I should be thankful since his antics resulted in my dad being freed. Anyway, I was locked in my room. That's right, when Pariah Dark tried to take over the human world, I was freaking grounded against my will, hiding in my lair, shooting lightning angrily at the clouds and pouting, praying that my uncles would make it out of this okay, especially the Fright Knight, who was bound to serve his master. Who knew what the Ghost King would make him do? I was unbelievably worried, but my over-protective kin stuck me where I couldn't help anybody so I would be safe. So, I was let out, along with Cujo, who had kept me company, when it was over, and begrudgingly told that Phantom had done a good job and had saved the worlds. If I hadn't had a crush on him already, that would have done it.

So when Dad got back from dealing with Plasmius, we embraced happily and he complained about his imprisonment, Vlad, and Phantom. I chuckled, remembering what it was like for my weather powers to be tied to my emotions. Poor Phantom. I told Dad about everything that had happened since he was gone, except for the ghost fighting and my crush on Phantom. He was disappointed that Mom was gone, too. He was proud of how I'd developed my powers and glad that I had managed to make some friends and visit my old homeworld safely. He agreed with all of Skulker's rules and continued to enforce them, moving back into the family realm. Now, I know background is important and all, but by this time, you're tired of it and you want me to get to the exciting part: how I ran away from home, met my hero, fought the system, etc. Well, I'm as tired of telling you all of the background details as you are of hearing them, so here's the thing that made the cool part of the story start. Dad found out about my ghost fighting. Someone I blasted with lightning told someone else, who told the Box Ghost, who blabbed it to everyone he saw, and then someone told Technus, who told my dad.

"My own- huuhh -daughter!" he wheeze-roared. "How- huuhh -could you?"

"Dad, calm down. Your asthma's acting up," I replied calmly. I was almost fifteen now. I wouldn't be bullied into being ashamed of what I believed in.

"Your human sympathies are- huuhh -understandable, Tempest, but this is too much!" he growled.

"Phantom fights other ghosts. Why can't I protect humans when I partially am one?" I asked reasonably.

"Phantom," Dad spat. "Is not my child, and just because other ghosts betray one another doesn't mean you should- huuhh -react in kind."

"Can I at least meet him? I'd like to know why you won't let me near him. I don't think it would hurt to at least introduce myself. I mean, at worst, he doesn't like the looks of me, sticks me in a thermos, and sends me home, right? That's not so bad. If you had someone escort me, they could keep me safe," I responded reasonably. Sure, I would hate to be baby sat, but if that's what it took to meet the dreamy- er, heroic Phantom, then I'd play nice.

"Absolutely- huuhh -not!" he roared. "You will never see the ghost boy in your afterlife. As long as you dwell in my realm, you will- huuhh -abide by my rules. You are one of us, and you will behave accordingly. Is that clear?"

"If I'm one of them, how come they never act like it?" I retorted.

At that moment, something inside me gave way. I realized suddenly that I had been a model daughter. I had pretty much always obeyed the rules, even when he hadn't been around to enforce them. It had been hard to follow the strict guidelines set out for me. My chance to be a kid was stolen when ghosts killed my mother. Even when ghosts had been the reason for my greatest misery, I had chosen them, chosen HIM. And this was the thanks I got? Grounded for my lifespan, which could be centuries? No. Way. So I protected humans in the way I couldn't protect my mother. I had thought that if he ever found out, he would understand. Then again, you don't really hide what you're doing from people who would be on your side if things went sideways. _I am a good daughter_ , I thought. _And I deserve better_. I decided that even Dad couldn't stay mad forever, so it was worth the risk to do this one thing for myself. Just this once.

"I'm sorry you're so against it, but if you can't give me a real reason to stay away, then I'm going, whether you like it or not," I said firmly.

I flew off at top speeds in the direction of the permanent portal, knowing he would call someone to get there ahead of me and stop me. For as long as I could, I made it look like I was making a straight break for the portal, then I veered for Wulf's domain. I had him tear me a portal to my old hometown. I knew that they'd assume I got through ahead of them when I didn't turn up at the gate, then turn the town upside down looking for me, realize I wasn't there, and then look for other portals I could have gone through, including asking Wulf. I told him to tell them the truth, so they'd waste more time looking for me there, thinking I would rejoin the humans in my old haunt. (Ha, joke.) I'd stick to human travel for as long as possible to throw them off. Why walk when you can fly? Hopefully, by the time they realized they'd been duped, I would already have spoken to Phantom and asked him everything I'd ever wanted to know. I knew I'd be in major trouble and that with the power my family and friends held in the Ghost Zone, that the manhunt for me would be enormous. It would be worth it, though. It had to be. I visited my mother's grave before I did anything, talked to her about everything she'd missed in the past three years, told her how much I missed her. Then I turned back into a human and walked to the nearest bus station. I told them that I had no money, but I would be willing to work to earn some for a ticket. I hadn't really expected it to work, but for two weeks, I swept floors and sold tickets to other people. I slept in the public library on one of the couches. It was easy enough to tap invisibility long enough to unlock a door and have it closed again before the alarm went off. I ate whatever I could wash dishes for at a local Mom & Pop diner I used to eat at when I was little. I washed my clothes in the same gas station shower I washed myself in and dried them off with a little hot wind conjured up from ghost powers. Eventually, I earned enough for a ticket that would take me to Illinois, a few towns away from Amity Park, plus enough for another outfit and a backpack to put it in, along with $123.35 for food and hopefully the use of a real washing machine. Not enough for another bus ticket, so I'd have to hoof it, fly, or hitchhike. Not as dangerous as it sounds for a girl who shoots lightning from her hands. I went with flying to start out with, since it was familiar to me, but I realized quickly that this made it absurdly easy for Skulker to track me when some ghost hounds chased me until I lost them in some hand-made fog, so then I went with a combination of walking and hitchhiking, and nobody gave me any trouble I couldn't handle. (Oh, you want juicy details? Too bad.) I earned more cash in the couple places I stopped, but I went as cheap as possible for laundry, lodgings, and sustenance. I didn't typically have to eat much, being half dead, but I needed a lot more caloric intake than usual because I was spending so long in human form and doing so much physical activity. I did pretty good avoiding using my powers, especially since making and smothering little lightning balls with my fingers was a nervous habit, but after two days walking with no cars that would pick me up, I gave in and flew for a little while, hoping nobaody was near enough to pick up on it.

It was like stretching a muscle that was long overdue to be used. It was so great, soaring invisibly over fields of corn, following the main road, that I didn't realize that I had pursuers until I passed the Amity Park sign. The vultures. They must have staked out the city after I didn't show up. If I knew any swear words, I would have used them then. I had worked too hard, been too careful, come too far for them to catch me now. I performed some evasive maneuvers and managed to lose them somewhere over the high school.

And that, Dear Reader, is where things get really interesting.


	2. Chapter 1: Hello

Author's Note: Pre-Phantom Planet, Post-D-Stabilized (In case I want to include Dani later. No promises). That's about all you need to know here.

Chapter 1: Um, Hi There

 _Danny_

So, I don't really know how this is supposed to work, but Jazz told me that keeping a journal would help me deal with all the craziness in my life. I'm not sold on it, but she needs to know I'll be okay when she leaves for college, so if this helps with that, then fine. She actually told me to do this a long time ago, but I thought it was pretty lame, and it wouldn't have had much in it other than: School. Fought ghosts. Didn't do homework. Went on patrol. Put the Boxy back in the thermos for the third time this week. Considering leaving him in there for a few days so I can get some sleep. Nothing to report, Danny. See? Lame. But today, I had something worth writing about, so when Jazz brought this up again, I felt more willing to give it a go.

So, it started out like a normal day, right? Normal being a morning patrol followed by a landing behind a tree to change back into human form so I wouldn't be late for class. I stepped out and flagged down Sam and Tucker, who were reading and gaming, respectively. I caught up with them and we made our way towards the doors casually, talking.

"Dude, you beat the latest version of Doomed yet?" Tuck asked me, like I have time in between ghost fights to game.

"Nope, the whole Technus thing really put me off of that," I said.

"You finish Act II of _A Midsummer Night's Dream_ for Lancer's class yet?" Sam asked me, ever on task.

"Actually, yes. For once, I did. I had to do it while I was on patrol, though. It was the first quiet night in a while," I commented, proud of myself for doing the assignment.

"Wow, maybe you'll actually pass English this year," Tucker said, also impressed.

"Wait, the ghosts have gone quiet? Is that good or bad?" Sam pointed out, raining on my parade.

She had a point, though. The ghost activity had been pretty crazy for the past few weeks. It was like all of the seek and destroy creatures had come out of the woodwork looking for something. Skulker, in particular, had been prominent in the search, flying away rather than taking me on like he normally would, muttering to himself about how he didn't have time for any whelps to get in his way. The smarter ghosts hadn't really bothered anybody, just looked around while being scary-looking. The "sniffers" that were trying to track the theoretical thing had gotten in the way a few times, caused a little property damage, but no attacks yet. I couldn't imagine what could be so important as to have a fourth of the Ghost Zone out trying to find it. I only hoped that Plasmius wasn't behind whatever this was. The last thing I needed was another one of the Fruit-Loop's crazy schemes.

"It's a good thing," I decided aloud. "Whatever the ghosts were looking for seems like it's gonna stay lost, meaning they'll give up looking and they can't use whatever it is to cause trouble. And the lull in activity gives me a chance to catch up in school." The bell rang. "Speaking of which..." I started, but was cut off by a hiccup of cold blue breath in my throat. Just great.

Sam smiled sympathetically. "You want us to stay?"

"Nah, just cover for me. Ghost sense says it's small, and alone. I can handle it. You guys go on ahead," I waved them away.

I walked back the way we'd come from, looking around, waiting for my ghost sense to kick in and tell me I was close. I held off transforming in case anybody was watching from the building, trying to play it cool. I spotted what I thought was the problem a block or so away, circling. Vultures. They were too far away to trigger my ghost sense, and it hadn't felt strong enough to warrant three threats. I backed towards a tree so they wouldn't see me first and thought it over. I suddenly felt my ghost sense well up again and realized that there was another ghost much closer than those three ancient birds about the time it grabbed my shoulders and hoisted me up into the tree. I was on the verge of going ghost and kicking butt when I noticed that the hand over my mouth was a girl's hand, covered by a red glove. Valerie? Well, who else would be able to yank me into a tree like it was nothing and wore a red ghost-hunting glove? I smiled, wondering why she had me up here and if she was stalking the vultures when a polite female voice behind me spoke up and I realized that it was not, in fact, Valerie with one arm around my waist and the other attached to the hand over my mouth. Polite was not exactly Val's strong suit, especially when it came to ghost hunting.

"Um, hi there. I know this is weird, and probably terrifying, being yanked up into a tree by some unknown person, but I really need you to be quiet, okay? I'd really appreciate it if you didn't move or make a sound. I promise I'm not going to hurt you, but I don't want you to blow my hiding place," the stranger whispered. "So, if I take my hand off of your mouth, can you just sit here really quiet and really still until I say you can go? Then you can run screaming if it suits you, but for now, I need total silence. Got that?"

I nodded. She took her hand off my mouth. I started to turn and see her face, but she reminded me in a harsh whisper that she had asked me not to move, so I stilled and did not even breathe loudly until she said, "Coast is clear." and let go of me. Apparently, she had some way of telling that the vultures were gone beyond the thick foliage of the tree. Released, I turned around and my breath caught as I saw her face. She was beautiful. She was also a ghost. Her pale green skin glowed softly while she blinked her enormous gold eyes at me owlishly. Her thick lashes and her medium-length hair were red like a rose, matching the bright colors of her gloves, boots, and belts. Her ears were pointed, like an elf's (as in Arwen, not corny Christmas elves). Her jumpsuit was a much more tasteful shade of orange than my dad's (picture tangerines, not neon traffic cones), and it had a little red lightning bolt logo on it. I realized that in examining it, it looked like I was staring at her chest, so my eyes shot back up to her face, which was still really pretty.

"I know, I'm pretty scary-looking, right? Green skin looks good on no one, not even dead people" she said, misinterpreting my face.

"No! I mean- that is -You're very pretty," I blurted embarrassingly.

She blushed, and I found it incredibly cute that she blushed a darker green. "For a ghost?" she asked.

"For anyone," my mouth insisted on expressing. I wanted to shut up, but I couldn't.

"Well, thank you," she said. "You meet many ghosts?"

"This is Amity Park. Everyone meets lots of ghosts. If you count running and screaming meeting them," I said. I realized how that sounded and worried that I had offended her, but she laughed.

"Touche," she said, smirking. "You aren't running and screaming now," she pointed out.

I shrugged. "You don't seem to be dangerous. Besides, you get used to ghosts if you live here long enough, especially if your parents hunt them," I added unnecessarily. What was with me and my traitorous mouth?

"Your parents are the ghost hunters, the ones with the permanent portal?" she asked, interested and not at all freaked out.

"Yup. That's them. The portal is their greatest achievement, according to them," I replied.

"Cool. Thank them sometime for giving me a way to visit Earth, would you? Oh! I'm being rude. The Ghost Zone tends to destroy any penchant for manners or necessity for talking to people you don't already know. My name is Tempest," she introduced herself. She stuck out a hand, which I shook.

"Danny Fenton," I replied. "Nice to meet you."

"Not a phrase I hear often from humans. It's a pleasant change, though," Tempest said, smiling.

"It doesn't seem like you were too happy to see those ghosts earlier. Is that who you were hiding from?" I asked her. Shut up, mouth! We were having a nice conversation before you went and ruined it by reminding her she needs to go.

Her face fell a little. "No, other ghosts don't like me much, either. They're just looking for me because of my dad. He's got a bit of pull in the Zone. I kinda ran away, and he wants someone to bring me back, dead or- well, more dead, I guess," Tempest replied.

"Why did you run away?" I asked her. I was pretty curious as to who her father could be to bring out so many ghosts trying to find her, but I was more curious about why she left home and why she wasn't supposed to. Ghosts generally high-fived each other for making it to the human world.

"Well," she began, opening and closing her hand, which created and smothered little balls of orange lightning. I stared, fascinated, until she realized what she was doing and stopped. I wanted to ask her to do that again, but I didn't want to interrupt. "Sorry. Anyway, I kinda-sorta idolized Phantom, that ghost that saves people from other ghosts when I was younger, and that led me to start doing the same thing around the world, everywhere but Amity. I'm not allowed to come here because this is where he hangs out, and my dad and everyone else basically forbade me to ever see him because they think he's dangerous. I finally had enough and ran off to meet him, but I couldn't take your portal because my dad would have someone watching it, so I had to take a bit of a detour. Technically, I've been missing for almost four weeks. I know I'm gonna get caught eventually, but I just wanna meet this guy who's basically my hero, then I'll go back. There's no way I'll find him now that they know I made it to town, so I'll have to lay low until the heat dies down."

"You fight other ghosts to help people?" I asked Tempest, not really noticing the increasingly common abbreviation of my name. So she was who the ghosts had been after.

"Yup. My dad got mad, and I probably didn't make it any better by running away, but I'm tired of this, being shut up in the ghost zone like I'm too awful a thing to let outside. Danny, sometimes it sucks to feel like you have two halves pulling you in different directions, but can't entirely belong to either side," she lamented.

Boy, did I know the feeling. "Who is your dad, anyway?" I asked.

"Um, if I tell you, you gotta promise not to judge me by my dad, okay? I hardly saw him for three years, and I love him 'cause he's my dad and all, but I don't agree with everything he says and does," she requested.

"I think that's true of all kids and parents," I sympathized. "But I promise not to judge you by your father."

"Okay," she sighed. "It's... Vortex. My dad is the crazy weather ghost that escaped from Plasmius and rained chaotic weather down on the world until Phantom stopped him."

"Vortex?" I choked out.

I was on the verge of freaking out in a big way. What happened if Daddy Dearest came to get his wayward daughter personally and flooded my town? Or baked it? Or blew it down? Or... hit it with lightning. Tempest- a word for storm. She had her dad's powers. I calmed down. Hopefully if he showed up, she could counteract him and help me get him away from people. She obviously had human sympathies and didn't intend to stay away from the Ghost Zone forever, so it didn't have to be a big deal. I noticed that she was looking at me with a mixture of hurt and worry and I said the first thing that popped into my head.

"You must get your good looks from your mother's side," I stated.

She regarded me in utter surprise for a moment, then threw her head back in a laugh. She wiped tears from the corners of her eyes when she finished.

"That is the funniest thing anybody has ever said to me, Danny Fenton. We should hang out while I'm doing the whole laying low thing," she suggested.

I wanted that. "Sure, but I should probably get to class now, though. I actually did my homework. Maybe later? Or tomorrow afternoon?" I answered.

"Deal. It's a date," she agreed, scooping me up to put me on the steps in front of the school and then flying away. It was weird, someone else doing the flying and carrying, but kinda nice.

I went to classes, thinking about her all day. Sam asked me what happened with the ghost, but I was too busy grinning like an idiot to tell her. Tempest had called it a date. I wondered if I should tell her about me being Danny Phantom, since she seemed to be the only ghost who didn't know, or at least put in an appearance as the town hero, but for now, I didn't want to be her hero. I wanted to be her friend.

 _Tempest_

I didn't go far after my talk with Danny. I landed behind a dumpster beside the school and transformed. I was buzzing. Here I was, not an hour into flying into Amity Park and I had already found more acceptance with this one human than nearly four years among "my own kind." It was positively intoxicating. I said what I did about laying low not because I actually thought it was a good idea, but because I wanted to stay awhile, get to know my new friend. And the second I finished talking to Phantom, it was all over. I would be dragged back home for all eternity. I still wanted to meet him, but it could wait. What if he thought I was a freak like everyone else? No, better to spend time with the sweet, blue-eyed boy who had gazed at me with total acceptance from under a mop of dark hair and told me I was pretty. Me. Pretty. I was grinning like a moron. Time to leg it to somewhere I could eat and crash. I needed a serious recharge after the kind of intense flying required to evade experienced (if old) pursuers. I walked around the front of the building, intending to do just that when I was stopped by a voice calling, "Hey, you there!"

I whirled, fists up, expecting to need to blast something with lightning, but the charge in my palms died at the sight of an angry, middle aged woman in red gym shorts. It took me a second to notice that it was a woman, because her voice had been kinda deep and she had short-cropped ginger hair shaved at the sides and muscles like a lumberjack. I let my hands fall, then waved guiltily. What did she want?

"Think you can just cut class?" the lumberjack lady barked.

I had forgotten that I was wearing my backpack. Given that, plus my age and location, it was an understandable mistake, and one I would allow, because it gave me a convenient place to hide out in human form. I felt pretty smart for thinking of that in time to answer her.

"Um, no?" I replied, somewhat uncertainly. Come on, brain, function! "I mean, I'm a new student. I don't know what class I'm supposed to be in yet." Good save, Tempest.

"Hmmph. Well, come on to Principal Ishiyama's office. We'll get you signed up," the large woman promised.

I thanked her and followed her into Casper High, looking around in wonder at something so normal as lockers. I hadn't ever had one, since I sorta got kidnapped before I had a chance to start middle school. I started thinking over what classes to take. Should I sign up for boring ones I knew I'd never finish? Or go with as many fun classes as possible to get the most enjoyment out of my time here? I determined that I'd commit to a couple of serious classes. I didn't know how long I'd be staying, after all. With that decided, we reached the door to the principal's office, and I thought of another problem. I wasn't sure how all the computer stuff worked, but what if they put in my real name and it kindly told them that I'd supposedly been dead for four years? I wasn't that good of an actress, so I needed to think of a name I'd respond to. I smiled a little sadly when it came to me: Windy, my mom's nickname for me as a play on my name as well as a reference to my tendency to make accidental tornados in the kitchen. So Windy Pells got signed up for the basic classes as well as Contemporary Dance, Fantasy Literature, and Home Ec. I'd always wanted to be able to cook something edible. By the time we were done, there was only one class left before lunch. I enjoyed Chemistry well enough. The formulas were kind of confusing, but the elegance to the organization of the Periodic table was appealing. I noticed as I was leaving a picture of my new friend Danny with a red don't sign over his face on the wall by the door. I asked the teacher about it and he heaved a long-suffering sigh.

"He developed a sudden clumsy streak freshman year and dropped two dozen beakers in just over a week. He is now banned from handling anything remotely fragile or coming within three feet of it. I let him write papers instead of performing the lab practicals. It was getting too expensive to keep replacing flasks, test tubes, and anything else he touched," the bespectacled man explained wearily.

I smiled fondly. I had just met him, but it seemed like a quirk he would have. I found it incredibly adorable. I thanked him for his explanation and left the classroom to go to lunch. Even the typically gross school food was heavenly. It smelled wonderful, and it was a lot tastier than Zone fare, which was not something you had to engage in often when you got energy from the ambient ectoplasm. I ate my salad and a pear, glad to have relatively fresh veggies and fruit where I had been subsisting on greasy diner food before. I had sat down across from a girl who was sitting alone. She had dark skin and pretty wavy hair that framed a prettier face whose centerpiece was a pair of stunningly turquoise eyes. I wondered why she was sitting alone, but I was too shy to make contact other than a murmured 'Can I sit here?' which she had answered with a noncommittal shrug. I kept sniffing unconsciously. I detected some kind of odd scent around her, but I couldn't say much about it other than it reminded me of home. I was putting my tray away by the window when I felt a shiver run down my spine and I looked through the glass to see Uncle Fright bearing down on me. Crud. Even though I grew up with him, seeing a flaming ghost knight on an undead horse flying straight toward me was scary for a second. I screamed reflexively. The other students noticed the approaching threat and followed suit, running away, which reminded me to dive for my old table to hide behind it.

"Why is a ghost attacking a freaking high school?!" I shouted indignantly, despite knowing exactly why he was here. I was mostly annoyed.

"If you didn't want to be attacked by ghosts, you shouldn't have transferred here. It's, like, the most attacked place in Amity," a pretty Latina girl in a pink crop top that was definitely not dress code informed me on her way out.

That made no sense. Why would the ghosts be interested in the high school? I heard more panicked screaming and I wanted to do something, but I couldn't transform here in the open. I was stuck, unless... My eyes caught on the lonely girl's backpack, which had fallen open on the floor in the commotion. A small ecto-blaster was peeking out. So that was what I had been smelling, the ozone, copper, and electricity of ectoplasm. I seized the weapon and took a calming breath, disengaging the safety. I heard him phase through the window and shout: "Where are you?"

I popped up and got off two really good shots that hit him square in the chest. I winced in sympathy, but I'd done worse in our sparring sessions. He would be fine. Angry roaring commenced. Yep, he was fine. I got out from behind my shelter and fired again, again, but he dodged most of my shots and didn't let them slow him down any. All too soon, he pulled up next to me, knocking my weapon away with his sword. He reached down and pulled me up by my wrist. I cried out, not in any real pain, just frustrated that my plan was coming to an end too soon. I wasn't ready to go back, not yet.

"Time to come along, child," Uncle Fright rumbled.

"Leave her alone!" called a voice from the ceiling.

I looked up and my heart stuttered a little. Phantom was zooming at us like an avenging angel, his massively cute features hardened in attractive determination. His eyes glowed green with intensity, white hair pushed back from his face by the force of his approach. Uncle Fright made an exasperated noise. I'm pretty sure I smiled like a dork when I saw my hero. I wiped the expression off my face and turned my attention to breaking the iron grip on my arm. Unsurprisingly, I didn't make any progress. I was swung across the saddle in front of him like a sack of disgruntled potatoes and hauled out the window by his horse. The tingle of intangibility passed over me like a shiver, here and gone. Phantom followed, firing careful ecto-blasts at my captor's head, trying not to get close enough to hit me. That was a nice thought, but I thought I had a better way for him to get me free.

"Knock me off the horse!" I called to him.

"What?" he shouted back, confused. I admired his chivalry in not wanting to hurt me, but now was not the time.

Uncle Fright realized what I was trying to do and maneuvered to try and prevent Phantom from getting a clear shot at me, putting on more speed and height. It was now or never. "Just do it!" I yelled.

He aimed with one finger rather than a hand and caught me in the ribs, knocking the wind out of me and sending me falling from the saddle into empty air.

 _Danny_

I hadn't wanted to hit the new girl, but she sounded so sure. She had seemed really competent in the lunchroom with Val's borrowed blaster. She had gotten in some really good shots. So I did what she asked and then she was falling. I had kinda expected that, since I was trying to knock her off the Fright Knight's horse, but it still gave me a heart attack to see her plummeting towards the ground. I dove as fast as possible to try and get underneath her rapidly falling body, praying I got there in time to catch her. Her face had a look of simultaneous concentration and serenity, and her green skirt and her long pale blonde hair fluttered in the wind as she dropped like a stone, arms and legs spread out like she was trying to slow her descent. I got my arms under her back ten feet from the ground and pulled up as hard as I could. She huffed as the impact with me knocked the breath out of her. I flew her toward the roof of the school over the cafeteria. I looked down at her face. She was smiling at me and I realized she was really cute. She had nice features that struck me as familiar for some reason, and hazel eyes that looked at me with total trust and a little humor. Did it not bother her that she had almost fallen to her death?

"Nice catch, ghost boy. Cutting it a little close, though," she commented with a smirk.

"And whose idea was it that you should fall really fast off of a ghost horse? In hindsight, maybe not the best plan," I snarked back.

"Hey, you caught me, didn't you? I'm fine. Um, but you might wanna take that guy out or something, because he looks pretty mad and he's kinda flying at us and roaring," she suggested, pointing at the rapidly approaching figure of the Fright Knight, who was indeed very angry.

"Stay behind me," I ordered, stepping in front of her and readying a two-handed ecto-blast.

"Well I wasn't planning on rushing a terrifying undead guy with a sword completely unarmed, if that's what you were implying. No arguments from me," she agreed.

I laughed once as I blasted the Fright Knight with just about everything I had. This chick was pretty funny. He tried to dodge, but the range of my shot was too wide and it caught him full in the face. He tumbled towards the ground and crashed with a terrific crunching sound. New girl flinched and made a face. I must have looked at her funny because she got defensive.

"Hey, I know he was trying to abduct me or something, but that still sounded really painful. Just because he's a ghost and probably a bad guy doesn't mean that smashing into the ground wouldn't really hurt," she said.

Huh. Not many people thought about how much getting hit hurt for ghosts. They mostly just cheered when they went down. I didn't know for sure about the Fright Knight, (He did have armor after all.) but I knew it sucked to crash when I was being Danny Phantom. I also knew that the thermos was cramped and unpleasant, but it didn't stop me from putting ghosts in there. I had never really thought about how from the other end of my fights with the ghosts, I must look like the bad guy. I was reminded of what Tempest told me earlier, about how ghosts didn't like her much because she sided with humans. Did that mean they saw me as a traitor, too? I brushed this train of thought away. I was a halfa. The rules were different for me. I startled from my thinking as the new girl waved her hand in front of my face, looking at me expectantly.

"Um, well, yeah. It does hurt, whether you're a ghost or not. We obviously don't die again because of a three story fall, but it does suck. Not many people think about that," I answered her implied question.

"Uh, okay. Thanks for replying to me and all, but I was actually trying to get your attention because that ghost is getting up now," she replied.

I looked and sure enough, he was struggling to his feet and so was the skeleton horse. I sighed. What was up with me? I was completely off my game today. That was twice in the same fight that the new girl had needed to remind me that the bad guy was still up and active. I got out the thermos and sucked up the Fright Knight and his horse. As I capped the thermos, I wondered what he'd been doing here and why he'd taken the new girl. Maybe I should ask her.

"Hey, do you know why he was trying to kidnap you?" I asked.

She shrugged. "Well, he probably wasn't thrilled with some human girl shooting at him, but other than that, I don't really know. Ghosts have seemed a little too interested in me lately. By the way, the girl in the cafeteria had a ghost weapon. Do you know where I could get one? It would be nice to be able to defend myself. Not that being saved by you wasn't great, of course. I'm just used to relying on myself," she answered.

Huh. It was weird that ghosts seemed interested in her. The only time that ghosts around here had really cared about humans other than for their use as entertainment or servants was when Aragon wanted a human bride. The new girl was really pretty and all, but I had thought that he was the only one crazy enough to attempt that and that Sam had cured him of any desire to hang out with humans. So what was up with this? I could figure it out later. She was looking at me again, expectant.

"Why did you trust me to catch you?" I asked her.

"Well you weren't fast enough to catch up to him and I just thought that if I wasn't on the horse moving away from you, you could get me..." she tried to explain, not really answering my question.

"I didn't ask why you told me to knock you off in the first place. I asked why you trusted me enough to risk falling to your death on the assumption I would be able to catch you in time. I don't know you. You don't know me," I interrupted. I wasn't sure how okay it was to press her, but I was curious, more than curious. She hadn't even screamed. She'd been totally calm as she shot towards the ground, like it hadn't even been a question of if I'd get there in time.

"Truth? You're the ghost who saves people. It's kinda your job, or at least a hobby you're very devoted to. Nobody in this town had died yet from ghost fights, and you're the reason. I don't have to know you personally to have faith in you. How could you not save me in time?" she answered.

I was stunned. I was no longer the menace who attacked the mayor to most people. I was a hero in people's eyes. They didn't hate me or fear me, and they cheered for me in ghost fights. All the same, this simple, innocent, completely solid faith this girl had in me from the get-go was, well, really flattering.

"Thanks," I mumbled.

The bell rang just then. Crud. Trust Casper High to get over a ghost attack in a matter of minutes and then go about the day normally like one of their students wasn't currently unaccounted for. It was time for both of us to go back.

"It sounds like it's time for you to go to class," I commented.

"What? A ghost on a flaming skeleton horse just attacked the school and we're expected to just go to sixth period?" the girl was understandably surprised, but it was still funny to me, having been here for all this time. She hadn't had months to adjust.

"Welcome to Amity Park," I told her. "You'll get used to it, Miss..."

"Oh! I'm Windy Pells. Like a breeze, not as in the chick from Peter Pan. Not that you necessarily care about how to spell my name, but it's just a mistake people make, and... I'm babbling. Sorry. But just call me Windy. You know, if we see each other again," she chattered.

I smiled. "We'll see each other around. There's a ghost incident around here pretty much every day, so you'll see me. Maybe sometime we could chill when there's not a ghost attacking us? It'd be a nice change of pace," I mentioned. I wanted to know more about Windy and why the ghosts were after her, and she also seemed pretty cool.

"I'd like that. It would be nice if I could make a friend to talk to at school, though. You're the first person I've talked to for more than a minute since I've been here, besides the teachers," she sighed.

"Give it time. I'm sure you'll find a quality person to hang out with. In fact, there's this kid, Danny Fenton, who seems alright. I mean, his parents are ghost hunters so we can't exactly hang out unless I wanna get shot at, but the few times I've run into him, he seems pretty tolerable for a teenage guy. I've been one, so it's okay for me to say they aren't always the nicest people," I babbled. What was I doing? This put me in danger of crossing the wires of my two identities. When Windy grinned at me gratefully though, it seemed worth the risk for a moment.

"The kid who's banned from touching anything remotely fragile? He does sound like my kinda people. Thanks. I'll see if I can talk to him, and that girl with the ghost weapon. Maybe she can tell me where to get one," she mused.

"I bet if you proved you knew how to handle yourself with one, Danny could get you an ectogun. Ghost weapons are his parents' specialty. I've been shot at by them enough times to know," I told Windy.

"Really? Great! Um would you give me a lift back to ground level? I don't know how to get down from here," she pointed out.

"Oh, right. Here, just hold onto me," I told her, reaching around her waist to carry her down through the roof and the floors via intangibility.

"No objections here," she said, sliding her arm over my shoulders and smirking at me.

My heart kicked against my ribcage. It normally wasn't doing much in ghost form, but it decided to act up when she looked at me through her fair eyelashes. I made us intangible and she shivered. We descended to the cafeteria and returned to solidity. I let go of her, waved goodbye to her and rushed off to change back. There was a flash of light as white rings whooshed over me and made me human again. The first thing I did was rush back to see Windy in the cafeteria. She was gathering her bag from under the fallen table. A few students were helping clean up the mess made when everyone ran away. Valerie approached Windy and talked to her. I couldn't hear what they were saying, but Windy looked around on the floor for a moment before spotting something, picking it up, and handing it to Val. The fallen blaster. They finished their conversation and I walked up.

"Hey, are you okay? I saw that big ghost thing carry you off," I said.

"I'm fine," she replied, smoothing her hair, which was messy from the breeze that she made while falling. "Is everybody else okay?" she asked.

"Yeah, they're fine. The fight was here and outside, and that was it. You were pretty good with that ectogun, by the way," I mentioned.

"My uncle taught me to shoot when I was ten. The same principle applies to laser weapons and ghosts as paintballs and targets. My name's Windy, by the way. With an i, not like Wendy of the restaurant with the hamburgers. You must be Danny Fenton," she said, extending a hand to shake.

"Yeah, that's me," I confirmed, accepting her handshake. "How did you know?"

"Well, for one, your face is on the wall of my chemistry classroom with the instructions to never let you touch anything that breaks. Secondly, Phantom mentioned that you seemed like an alright kid to get to know when I told him I didn't have any friends yet," she answered how I knew she would.

"Really? Okay. What's your next class? Mine's gym," I told her.

"Cool. Me, too. Does that large scary woman with the red hair teach that?" she asked me.

"You mean Coach Tetzlaff? Yep, that's her. She's about as tough as she looks, grade-wise. She always sounds like she's telling, but I'm pretty sure that it's just her voice," I answered.

She snorted. "I got that impression, too. Want to play tour guide and lead me there? I don't actually know where the gym is," she admitted.

"I'd be happy to," I replied. "I'll even use the voice. On your left, we see the cafeteria where a lunch lady ghost sought revenge on my friend for changing the menu to include vegetarian items. On your right, we see the courtyard where my dad once put up a ghost shield to protect the kids eating lunch from a ghost invasion while he shouted at us through a bullhorn to 'chew like the wind' because the power would only last fifteen minutes."

Windy was laughing so hard there were tears in her eyes at my ridiculous chipper tour guide voice and my anecdotes. I had to admit that the situations were funnier in hindsight, but they were actually pretty funny. I kept up the act all the way to the locker room doors. I finished and she wiped tears from her eyes as she calmed down.

"You are hilarious," she told me. "You can be my tour guide any time."

"Happy to help. You might want to see if you can get a uniform 'cuz it's gonna be hard to run in that skirt. I speak from very unfortunate experience, which is a story for another time," I said.

"I look forward to hearing it. And Coach said that my locker has one the right size in there. All I need is a ponytail holder, so this mess doesn't fall in my eyes," Windy told me.

"Can't help you with that," I apologized, gesturing to my short hair.

"I figured. Thanks for showing me around, Danny. See you in class," she said, waving and disappearing through the door.

"See you around, Windy," I mumbled.

She must have found someone to lend her that ponytail holder because when she stepped onto the basketball court where we were setting up for girls vs boys dodgeball, her hair was back from her face and she was wearing the white shirt and red shorts that were our standard gym uniform. She was wearing the same gladiator sandals she'd been wearing. She must not have thought to bring tennis shoes. Despite her lack of appropriate shoes, she kicked our butts at dodgeball. Her good aim apparently extended from guns to dodgeball because she creamed us every game. She got Dash and his buddies out first, since they were our best players, and they eventually got smart enough to try and do the same to her, but she caught every ball they threw at her. Tucker whistled, impressed as she threw the red rubber ball at a wall, where it ricocheted straight into Kwan's left kidney, causing him to go down with a groan. She was good.

"Girl's got game. I am now less skeptical that she shot at Fright Knight and fell a few stories without screaming. Who did you say she was, again?" Tucker said.

"Windy. Windy Pells. She and Valerie seem to get along, since they tag team a lot," I mentioned.

"Yeah, I would've thought that V would be mad that she stole her blaster," Tuck commented.

"Borrowed, and she knew how to use it. Val gets more mad about people being in the way who are a danger to themselves than anything else. I'm glad she has a friend," I said.

"Besides you, you mean?" Tuck insinuated, winking.

"I just want to keep an eye on her, make sure the ghosts don't try anything again. There's something strange about her. I wanna find out what it is," I defended myself.

"Sure you do. And the fact that she's hot has absolutely nothing to do with it," Tuck said sarcastically.

I rolled my eyes. "No, it doesn't," I insisted.

Just then, I got creamed by a dodgeball to the shoulder. Tuck went down right beside me.

"No hard feelings!" Windy called. "Just how the game goes."

Remembering that day, the way she moved like poetry and with almost unnatural speed, I find it hard to believe I never noticed how similar she and Tempest were, with identical knowing smiles and body language. I blame how obtuse I was on my belief that Plasmius, Dani, and I were the only halfas around. I looked so similar in both my forms, and so did Dani, but Vlad looked nothing like Plasmius. It wasn't just the hair and the eyes and the fangs, the builds and faces were undeniably different. So I had no excuse for not seeing that Tempest and Windy were the same. Even the names: both had something to do with weather. I met them on the same day. Ghosts were after both of them. When I learned the truth, I felt so blind. Maybe if I hadn't been so concerned with my own secret, if I had seen that both girls were the same person, I could have prevented what happened somehow. Useless to blame myself, I know, but I still feel like it was my fault. Maybe I always will.

But that's a story for another time.

Clueless as usual,

Danny


	3. Chapter 2: Love is Weird

A/N: Hello! Sorry it's been so long, beloved readers. I promise to start making some more plot points now. Onwards and upwards!

Chapter 2: The Other Woman

 _Tempest_

So, apparently if ghosts get desperate enough to find someone they'll stoop to interrogating humans. I found this out when I discovered Danny hanging from Skulker's grip by his shirt.

"Where is she, whelp? I know you've spoken to her. Tell me where to find the girl!" my uncle roared in Danny's face.

"I have no idea what you're talking about, dude. What girl?" Danny scoffed.

Scoffed. He was staring up at a giant metal undead guy with a mohawk made of fire and he was completely unafraid. He was _protecting_ me. My heart beat double time in my chest. This brave guy was among the first to run out of the cafeteria during the attack yesterday? I couldn't believe it. Skulker hauled him up higher so his face hovered over Danny's.

"Tempest," he growled. "Red hair, orange clothing, green skin. Ringing any bells?"

"Oh, _that_ girl," Danny replied in an exaggerated tone of embarrassed forgetfulness. Was he about to rat me out? "What do you plan to do when you find her, exactly?"

"Drag her disobedient hide back to the Ghost Zone for the ultimate grounding," he replied in a dangerous rumble.

"Well, in that case, I don't know," Danny answered nonchalantly.

What? He had no idea of my current location in _any_ case. Why make Skulker think he was keeping my hideout secret? My question was answered when my uncle hauled a fist back and my friend braced himself for the blow. That was enough of that. I transformed in a flash of orange and launched a ball of lightning at my uncle's face. I would have felt a little bad about blasting him like that, but A: Ghosts are pretty tough, and B: How dare he treat Danny that way? It caught him square in the jaw and sent him reeling back empty-handed, having let go of Danny when the blow landed.

"Run! I'll hold him off," I called, dodging a ghost net.

"I don't wanna just leave you," he shouted back.

As much as I admired his loyalty, this battle was no place for a human. "Just go! I've got this. I'll be fine," I insisted.

He hesitated, then bolted down a random street. Good. He was safe. I caught an ecto-blast in the chest and went down before blowing myself to my feet with a strong breeze.

"I don't want to fight you, child. Come home and I'll try to talk your father down a few years on your punishment," Skulker cajoled.

"No. I'm sorry, but there are still things I need to do here. Please, Uncle. I can't go. Not yet. I have a right to meet another ghost, especially one that's so much like me," I pleaded.

"That's more true than you know, but I'm afraid your father insists and in this case, I agree. Now surrender before I have to make you," he pushed.

"Then I guess this _is_ a fight, and it's one I am gonna win," I said, emphasizing the last word with a bolt of lightning.

Skulker dodged pretty easily. We went back and forth like that for a minute or so, me landing very few decent hits and Skulker getting in his fair share of hard blows. Finally, one such blow got past my lame energy shield and I went down hard. I was struggling to my knees, trying to call up a tornado, when I felt a metal boot on my back.

"Enough, Tempest. It's time to go," my uncle said softly, fastening some sturdy handcuffs on my wrists.

So this was it. It was over and I still hadn't gotten in a real conversation with Phantom. I'd never see him again... or Danny. That thought gave me renewed reason to struggle, however futilely. I couldn't quit. I had to at least try to fight this. I was starting to feel sorry for bugs that people stepped on if they felt anything like I did just then when suddenly, a robotic female voice issued from behind me.

"Time to research purple-backed gorillas at the library," the lady's serene mechanical voice announced to the whine of my uncle's backpack jets firing up.

A second later, the weight was lifted from my back and I saw Skulker sailing away over the rooftops.

"Let me help you with those," Danny said, and after a moment of him fumbling around my wrists, I heard a soft click and the metal cuffs fell to the pavement.

I rubbed the skin gently and rolled over to face my rescuer. He wasn't alone. Standing behind him was a boy I'd seen him hanging around in gym. I was pretty sure his name was Trevor or something.

"Tempest, this is Tucker," Danny introduced us. Oops. I was close enough. "He hacked into Skulker's tech and sent him away. Should keep him busy for a while at least."

"Thanks," I said, smiling. "You have to have some serious computer skills to crack ghost tech. Nicely done."

"Eh, no problem. I've done it before. By now, I just have a shortcut on my PDA to engage the program so we don't have to deal with him for any longer than necessary," Tucker replied with a shrug of affected humility. I could tell he was proud of himself.

"My heroes," I said with a smile. I was impressed. Fighting skills or no, these guys were pretty decent at ghost battles.

Danny blushed furiously and Tucker puffed out his chest. I found both reactions equally adorable. Well, maybe Danny's was a _little_ more adorable.

"You wanna hang out, now that Skulker isn't going to get in the way?" I asked, mostly directed at Danny.

"Yeah, I think I'd like that. You did promise me a date awhile back. Time to collect," he agreed.

A quick flight later, we were in a far corner of the park. We strolled around for a long time, talking some. Danny bought us a couple of pretzels when we wandered closer to the more populated part of the park, and I really enjoyed mine. I had never had one before. When I admitted as much to Danny, he seemed worried that he'd done the wrong thing, like maybe he'd offended me with the offer of food when ghosts don't usually eat. I quipped back that we didn't typically eat because the ghost zone had very few things that were actually enjoyable to eat. Pretzels, on the other hand, were delicious.

I found out that he loved space, that his best friends were Sam and Tucker, he had a sister in addition to the ghost hunting parents (who were apparently very "intense" about all aspects of life, especially those involving ghosts), and that he hated English class even though the teacher, who swore in book titles, was occasionally not that bad. I offered to help him with "A Midsummer Night's Dream" because there wasn't a whole lot to do during the groundings I frequently got besides read, and Shakespeare was one of my favorites.

Basically, it was a flipping fantastic date. I had a great time and he had a great time and ugh, I actually probably made him super uncomfortable if he noticed how much I stared at his ocean blue completely amazing eyes. Anyway, we agreed to meet again later in the week and maybe go to the observatory to see one of the shows on their fancy 360 degree almost 3-D level of HD projector that made you feel like you were floating among the stars. It was gonna be so freaking awesome.

 _Danny_

Not long after the Best Date Ever with Tempest, which, given my usual level of smooth, went better than I could have possibly hoped, Danny Phantom ran into Windy again. I was on patrol and my ghost sense tipped me off to a gang of Vlad's hybrid animals in a back alley in Elmerton, the shady part of Amity Park. I guess he made a new batch that hadn't seen his pelt trophies yet. Who was in the middle of this circle of five ghosts than Windy Pells, fighting them off with an axe, of all things. She managed to chop some tentacles off this bear (yes you read right) and buried her weapon in the hide of a tiger-snake combo, but she buried it too deep because it got stuck and left her weaponless. This prompted me to stop floating on the sidelines staring like the idiot I was and start helping.

"I was hoping you would show up. I could use some backup."

"I live to serve, milady," I replied as I froze two of her assailants, a dog shark and a winged lion.

She smirked and bashed the face of this owl-piranha with a fire extinguisher that I hadn't seen her grab, and then proceeded to spray it in the eyes with the stuff inside it.

"Nice moves. Where did you get that? Or this, for that matter?" I asked, handing her the axe I retrieved from the tiger-snake and barely escaped being sliced in half with those claws. I was pretty sure I saw green venom dripping off of them.

"Some of the older 'break in case of emergency' boxes had axes in them as well as fire extinguishers. I guess they haven't updated the equipment here," Windy huffed as she rolled out of the way of a strike by the angry bear-squid and used the axe in a kind of backhanded slap on it. I found it kinda funny that the thing actually looked slightly offended, like 'How dare you, madam?'

She slashed at it again, and that dazed it enough for me to suck it up in the thermos, along with the owl-piranha that had been swooping to its aid. The two frozen creatures were easy to catch next, so that just left the tiger-snake. I meant to capture it, but I was suddenly squeezed in its coils and I dropped the thermos. Lucky for me, Windy was quick to act, chopping off the part of the tail that was holding me and snatching the thermos to get the rest of it. The severed part dissolved once she capped the thermos. She extended a hand to help me to my feet and returned the portable ghost prison.

"That thing is pretty handy. Not sure we could have held out without it. No offense," she commented.

"None taken. I agree with you. So, maybe it's none of my business, but what are you doing here in the middle of the night anyway?"

"I live here," she answered. I blushed furiously. Dang. Way to put your foot in your mouth, Fenton.

"You look really cute when you do that. You blush green instead of pink. It's kinda cool. Also, don't worry about it. I know it's not much to look at. And I didn't mean _here_ here. Would you mind to give me a lift back to my place? It's a bit of a walk."

"Oh, sure. No problem." I made to grab her and pick her legs up, but she stopped me with a hand on my chest.

"No bridal style this time. Not that looking at your face isn't fantastic, because believe me, I like the view, but when you carry me like that it's all I _can_ see. Would you mind if we did it piggy-back?"

So I let her climb on my back and we took the long way back to her apartment because she kept making these noises of fascination, which gave me the impression that she like flying very much. I flew her right through the outer wall and she climbed down. She swept an arm around the space.

"Here we are, home sweet home. I dunno if you have stuff to do, but you're welcome to hang out if you want. Mi casa es su casa," she offered.

I texted Jazz to ask if she could take over patrol. She was the least likely to ask questions why and I knew Sam had a thing at the Skulk and Lurk and Tuck had an online gaming session with some Korean friends. She agreed, so I flopped on the worn out couch next to Windy and smiled.

"Looks like I'm free."

"I'm gonna make some popcorn. You want any?" she grunted as she stood up and wandered into the meager kitchen.

"Just a soda, if you have any, thanks." I didn't want to take what might be her only food of the night, but I also didn't want to make it seem like I pitied her. She didn't strike me as the type who would put up with that sort of thing.

"Aw, crud. Looks like the fridge is out. You like it lukewarm?" she teased.

"Was there anything in there that could spoil?"

"Not much. I lost the thimbleful of milk that I had left, but that's about it. I can pick up more tomorrow," Windy sighed dismissively, tossing the mostly empty carton in the trash.

"Well, until then, allow me to help," I said, rising from the couch and floating over to the fridge. I opened it and coated the inside with some ghostly ice. I tapped the cans on the counter, too, cooling them instantly.

"That's so cool! Pun intended. What else can you do with your hands?" she asked breathlessly. Her face was as pale as mine was green when she realized what she'd said. "I'm sorry. That came out wrong. I meant to ask what other kinds of powers you have, but of course my brain thought of the worst way to phrase it."

"It's okay," I replied sincerely, then cleared my throat. "Well, there's the ecto-blasts. Those are the green laser-y things. I can fly, turn invisible, intangible, sense ghosts, and of course you've seen the ice powers. Oh, there's also the ghostly wail, but that's exclusively for emergencies and not super great for demonstrating indoors. I can also make shields out of the ectoplasm instead of shooting it or i can make little balls of it to throw that explode on contact. That stuff's pretty versatile."

"Awesome. So, do you wanna do something? Play cards, watch a movie?"

"Well, I don't know any card games..."

"Perfect! Maybe I actually stand a chance of winning, then," she laughed.

So that's how I learned to play Rummy, Speed, and War. I had a lot of fun, and I managed to win a hand or two despite being totally inexperienced. This earned me the privilege of having popcorn thrown at my head in vengeance, but it was worth it. I was sorry to have to go home when Windy started yawning and I caught it too.

For the next week, I juggled the two halves of my life pretty well. I managed to hang out with Tempest _and_ Windy and not neglect ghost patrol or Sam and Tucker. I even got home by curfew most of the time. Tempest helped me with the Shakespeare assignment, as promised, and I introduced her to some of my favorite movies and foods she'd never tried before. Windy accompanied me on patrol and I showed her the city. I saw her in class as Danny Fenton, but she didn't say as much to me there as she did when I was Phantom. It's not like she snubbed me. We were friends, but she wasn't as talkative or flirtatious.

It took a surprisingly long time for it to occur to me that I had never heard Windy mention her parents. I wasn't sure if it was okay to ask, but I hated to think of her all alone in that empty, run-down apartment. So, on Saturday, when we were just sitting on a roof, looking at the sunset, I ventured to mention it. I was immediately sorry when her eyes welled up with tears. I mentally kicked myself for being such a jerk. She must have been able to tell because she gave me a stern look.

"Don't you dare beat yourself up for asking. It shows you care. It's honestly better than I've been getting at home lately. If you really wanna know, I could use someone to talk to." When I nodded at her, she continued, "When I was a little girl, we were a happy family. We lived in Michigan, near these woods. I would always roam around outside and explore my backyard like it was another world. My mom was a bit of a hippie, so I was pretty enthusiastic about nature. My dad had a weird job with weird hours and I didn't see him all the time, but he was a good father to me. I had a lot of relatives from his side of the family that would come over and spend time with me, teaching me things like how to shoot or work PowerPoint or throw a punch so you don't break your hand. I thought of them kinda like weird uncles." She paused here, taking a deep, shuddering breath.

"Everything was fine, but then one day, my mom and I were in an accident. She died. My dad got arrested for something unrelated and I didn't see him for three years. My uncles passed me around and raised me as best they could, but they didn't know anything about kids, so I was pretty independent. One day, Dad gets parole and he swoops back in like nothing happened and just expects me to roll with it and follow all of these way harsh rules he lays down. I got sick of it, and I told him so. We got in a fight, I stormed off, and I just ran away. I earned some cash, and via a combination of buses and hitchhiking, made it to Amity, rented an apartment, and enrolled in the first non-homeschool I've been to since fifth grade. Now here I am. No parents. No job. No plan. Pretty sad, huh?"

I mulled it over for a moment. My heart was breaking for her, but I didn't see her being very receptive to mushy stuff. I wasn't particularly gifted in that area, either, so I decided to do my best to comfort her without making her feel vulnerable or weak.

"Not gonna lie, that was straight out of a Dickens novel in levels of heartbreaking. But you know what you do have? A friend. That's something, right? You have a roof over your head, a place you can learn about the world as best as the underpaid teachers of the public education system can teach you, and at least one person who cares about you, undead or no. Maybe things aren't as bad as they feel right now. Maybe... there are bright spots. You know?"

I was sure I'd screwed up royally when the tears made it out of her eyes and onto her face, but she gave me a watery smile and launched forward to wrap her arms around me. I returned the sudden hug and she buried her wet face in my shoulder.

"Thanks, Phantom. That... that really means a lot. It does make me feel at least a little better to know that you're in my corner."

"Any time," I whispered.

We sat like that for awhile, just holding each other. It was nice. I moved my hand to cup the back of her head.

She jerked backwards and I thought I'd done something wrong again, but she shouted, "Holy crap, I'm late!"

She was looking at the sky and not a watch of some kind, so I was momentarily confused, but then I noticed it had gotten dark without us noticing. It suddenly dawned on me that I was also late; for my date with Tempest at the observatory. If I flew at top speed, I might just make it.

"Sorry, but I gotta go to this thing. It's really important. Don't mean to cut this short because it was really nice and I appreciate you so much as a friend but I really gotta hurry if I'm gonna make it in time. See you later, good talk, bye!" Windy called at hyperspeed as she scrambled down the fire escape and sprinted down the street.

I was just glad not to have to make excuses in that moment that was so fragile for her. I zoomed in roughly the same direction and transformed midair in a dive behind a bush at the observatory. I skidded to a stop mere feet away from Tempest, who was also catching her balance. We made awkward eye contact and blurted simultaneously, "Sorry I'm late!" We looked at each other and laughed, then walked in. She turned invisible and followed me into the theater. We grabbed our seats just as the lights went off. Invisible, she was still tangible, and even if I might have looked odd to anyone paying attention, I still held her unseen hand during the whole show.

Later, by the lake in the park, looking up at the real versions of the stars we'd just seen on an epic projection screen an hour ago, the conversation about how cool the thing had been came to a lull. Suddenly, I was looking at the girl instead of the stars and then she was looking at me with a question in her golden eyes.

She voiced it. "Why did you hold my hand back there?"

"Isn't that what you do when you sit next to a pretty girl on a date?" I murmured, sensing that the question was more than just idle curiosity.

"Why do you keep saying that?"

"Saying what?"

"That I'm pretty."

"Because you are," I said slowly. I was puzzled.

"But I'm not. I glow green and my eyes are like a color in the Crayola Neon series and my teeth and ears are pointy and my hair looks like Carrie's when they poured pigs' blood on her at prom. I don't look pretty, I look like a monster from someone's closet if that closet only contained orange spandex. I look like a walking nightmare," she croaked.

I was quiet for a while. "Is that really what you think?" I whispered.

"Isn't that what you think? Aren't you just being nice? You don't have to lie to me just so you don't hurt my feelings."

"I'm not being nice. I'm being honest. I think you look perfect. You wanna know what those features you mentioned remind _me_ of? Your skin looks like the leaves of those little baby ferns that close up when you touch them. Your eyes aren't like a crayon color- don't insult them- they look like liquid gold or maybe that one spice- saffron. Your pointy ears are cool, like the hot elves in Lord of the Rings, and your pointy teeth aren't scary. They make you seem roller coaster dangerous, not serial killer dangerous. And your hair is _not_ blood colored. It's more burgundy-ish, like rose petals or those official-y royal wax seals that are used on important letters in the movies. I _like_ your jumpsuit, thank you very much. What's wrong with spandex? And you are not a monster. You are one of the gentlest people I know. You can shoot lightning out of your hands and yet you'd never use it to hurt people. You'd rather do dumb things with me than terrorize people or take over the world. The way you play with little balls of lighting in your fingers when you fidget and how you blush and it's darker green are a-freaking-dorable. How you sacrificed acceptance with your people to do the right thing by another group of people is amazing. So, no. I don't think you're pretty. I think you're beautiful."

For a long moment, I worried I'd said the wrong thing. Then she wrapped her arms around my neck and asked, "Do you really think so?"

"Yeah," I breathed.

Then, because she was looking up at me with those enormous tiger eyes and smiling like I'd just given her a unicorn and she was just so darn lovely when she looked that happy, I kissed her. She seemed utterly shocked at first, but then I guess that was all the proof she needed that I meant all that stuff I said stumblingly, (I was really glad she wasn't gonna hold out for a more poetic description, because I was me and that weird, accurate-as-I-could-manage display was all I had.) because she kissed me back. It was really, really nice. I mean, I'd done fake out make outs before, but this was real. I'm not super sappy, so gooey details I will skip, but I will say that it was soft and sweet and the sensation of lips being slightly cool was kinda awesome.

So, honestly, Journal, I'm pretty confused. I mean, that's not exactly new. My codename is Clueless 1 after all. But for once I'm confused about relatively normal teenage things that are complicated by the whole half ghost thing. Well, that's actually the usual status of things, so maybe it's not so different from my normal type of confusion after all, except that this time it's about girls. I never really thought I'd have that problem where you like two girls and can't decide between them. I never thought I'd get _one_ to look at me with any kind of romantic interest, actually. So, it is therefore unsurprising that I don't know what to do about Windy and Tempest.

On the one hand, Tempest has this unearthly beauty and is the coolest ghost I've ever met. She's a little shy, which is pretty cute since she could blast holes in people if she felt like it. And, to top it all off, she fights ghosts on behalf of humankind, which I can relate to on a personal level. On the other hand, Windy is also gorgeous and has an amazing sense of humor (not just that she likes my jokes, but hers are pretty funny too). She's confident and can kick ghost but with no powers, which is honestly pretty hot. And she's a mystery. Why do the ghosts want her? How is she so good at everything? Ugh. They're both so great, and I can't decide who I want to take things further with. I know I can't choose both because that would be stringing them along and therefore very unfair to both girls.

Looking back, I realize I knew things couldn't have lasted forever no matter what I chose, for a hundred reasons that were true at the time. Neither knew about my double identity, and I couldn't be sure how they'd react. They were both runaways who were gonna have to go home eventually. We were all 15, or the equivalent of it, so we didn't know enough about love to make any big decisions about forever yet. My past dating experience with Valerie did not bode well for the longevity of future relationships. My parents could shoot at Tempest. Tempest was kinda dead. Windy was probably hiding from Child Services. Tempest's family had already shot at me. The list goes on. But was wanting to have something like this now- despite all the reasons it couldn't possibly have worked out, no matter how temporary it might have been- Was that so wrong?

Still confused and a little regretful,

Danny

A/N: Wow! That was a long one. Sorry if the romance is a bit rushed. I'm not planning for this to be more that two more chapters long and things needed to pick up a bit. Thank you so much for following my little story and sorry again that it has taken so long for that little alert to pop up in your inbox. I am blown away by how many people are still as in love with Danny Phantom as I am and as hungry for new fanfics about our beloved show. I thank you for all of the follows and favorites you have bestowed upon this fic. Bless you all.


	4. Chapter 3: Too Cute to Handle

**A/N:** **Hello! It's been so long, lovelies! Warning: This chapter gets pretty fluffy with the romance. Like, seriously. Danny and Tempest are too cute. Just thought you should know. Next chapter is gonna get serious. Also, I haven't been giving the standard disclaimer, so: I own nothing but Tempest and the storyline. No DP characters are mine. Onwards!**

 **My Life is Like a Shakespearian Tragedy, But With More Ghost Fights**

 ** _Tempest_**

 **Danny had kissed me. Me. The half-dead glowing green girl. I mean, I knew he liked hanging out with me, but I never expected things to get that far. I am not the most gooey person, but I will say that I was over the moon. I must have been in a dreamy haze thinking about it for the rest of the weekend. There were probably enough happy sighs released to launch a hot air balloon, but I didn't care. Was this what love felt like? Even after years living both among humans and ghosts, I had never really understood how my parents had found enough common ground to fall in love and elope. Ghosts and humans were too different. They should have known it wouldn't work out. Now I realize they may have known about the obstacles and whatnot, but just not cared, because that was how I felt now.**

 **There was no way what Danny and I had could be a long term thing. I had to go back to the ghost zone eventually, he didn't even know my secret, and I still wasn't sure how being half ghost would affect things like my lifespan and stuff. Being his girlfriend was completely unreasonable and probably unfair to both of us. I went into this knowing that I was saving the memories for later when I was locked back in my realm, but Danny didn't have that opportunity. So, did I feel guilty about our relationship? Heck, yes. But I also felt... well, it's hard to describe, but I felt like I was constantly in the middle of that tidal wave of pride when I finally mastered lightning bolts going the way I wanted them to. Like- that warm, bright feeling like life couldn't possibly be better than it was in that moment.**

 **So, even though it wasn't right, I wasn't going to give it up. I was so happy for the first time in a long time, and maybe it was selfish, but that wasn't going to stop me. I would take as long as I could get with Danny Fenton. I remembered, thinking of him, that there was another cute boy in my life: Phantom. He also had no idea about my double identity either. He was a good friend, and I liked him as more, but he'd never made a move. Maybe it was because, like me with Danny, he hadn't wanted to be pushy in case the whole ghost thing was weird for humans. Maybe it was because he just wasn't interested. Either way, it was clearly the weaker of my two potential romantic entanglements, and even if I was willing to be selfish enough to keep going in a doomed relationship, I wasn't selfish enough to string anybody along. Boys had feelings, too. That kind of dishonesty was different than preserving your safety, privacy, etc.**

 **But I wasn't going to give up on it just yet. After all, Phantom was who I'd come here to find. Maybe I just needed to give him an opening to find out how he really felt. I saw him most evenings, so an opportunity to test the waters would come soon. As it turned out, "soon" was sooner than I'd anticipated. Flopped on my couch, contemplating the state of my budding love life, I was startled by green eyes hovering over mine.**

 **"** **Aaaahhhh!"**

 **With a surprised yell, I tumbled from the couch to the floor, all flailing limbs and embarrassment.**

 **"** **Um, sorry about that. You were pretty zoned out, there. You okay?" Phantom asked in concern, voice echoing with that quality all ghosts have.**

 **Catching my breath, I scrambled to a sitting position, praying my skirt hadn't ridden up as high as it felt like it did during my unexpected quarrel with gravity.**

 **"** **It's fine," I huffed, standing. "I happen to think being scared half to death is good for your cardio."**

 **I smiled at my own private joke, and Phantom smiled, too. Probably at the more obvious joke.**

 **"** **So, what do you want to do tonight? Patrol out, stay in? You name it," he offered.**

 **"** **How about we go somewhere? I actually got a job sweeping up in the mornings for an all-night coffee shop. I saw a poster for some indie band playing tonight. You wanna see if they're any good?" I asked, watching him carefully for his reaction. He looked happy at first, then his face fell as he realized something. Crap. Did he have a ghost girlfriend or something?**

 **"** **I'd love to, but I kinda stick out, and not everybody really likes their friendly neighborhood Phantom. I could hang out invisibly in the rafters, but that wouldn't really be hanging out," he lamented.**

 **I was relieved, It wasn't that he didn't** ** _want_** **to go out with me; it was that he didn't think he** ** _could_** **.**

 **"** **Oh, well if that's all, then it's an easy fix. Just toss on some clothes and a hat, and you'd pass for human, easy. It's not like you have, I don't know, green skin or something. Just don't float or glow and you could keep it incognito," I suggested.**

 **"** **What if we get caught?"**

 **"** **Well, you can skedaddle through the roof and meet me back here, and I'll be able to tell Paulina Sanchez I went on a date with her ghost boyfriend if she ever decides to give me any trouble beyond eye rolls and lip curling at my fashion sense," I teased, shrugging.**

 **"** **Paulina's been bothering you?"**

 **"** **Nothing I can't handle," I laughed. "It's not like her opinion of my outfit really matters to me."**

 **"** **Well, she's not my girlfriend, if that makes you feel any better."**

 **"** **Yes, but she doesn't really scare me. Um, on a related note, are there any lady ghosts you're friendly with that I'm stepping on the toes of? I kinda don't want to have a hole in my face because I made anybody with ghost powers jealous," I said, half teasing, half serious.**

 **He got a weird look on his face, but it cleared up so fast I thought I imagined it. "No, none of my female ghost friends are the type for jealous rage," he assured me, smiling.**

 **"** **Great, so we can go!" I chirped, dragging him towards the door.**

 **"** **Um, disguise first?"**

 **"** **Oh, right. Go ahead. I'll wait in front of the building. Pick me up when you're done," I told him.**

 **As he flew off, I shouted, "And I don't mean literally this time!"**

 **Phantom showed up in jeans and a long-sleeved white T-shirt that looked too tight for him. I certainly wasn't complaining. He was wearing a red beanie to cover his distinctive hair that struck me as familiar somehow, but I brushed it off.**

 **"** **Nice look. Very human-y," I commented.**

 **"** **Thanks," he replied wryly. "Do you really think this will work?"**

 **He seemed nervous. I hoped it was jitters because I looked awesome in my only alternative outfit, jean shorts and a T-shirt that said: "I got attacked by a ghost in Amity Park!" with a cute little cartoon picture of Phantom beating up the Box Ghost. It was so touristy that I** ** _had_** **to get it when I saw it in the window of a shop that sold ghost merch. With all the property damage they caused, I guessed ghosts owed the town a little money to be raked in from tourism related to the hauntings.**

 **"** **I do," I insisted. "C'mon. We're gonna miss the first set."**

 **The show went great. Phantom was apparently more of a Dumpty Humpty person, like Danny, but he liked it well enough. I liked the fact he held my hand the whole time. We were just sitting at a table, sipping cocoa, when I finally worked up the nerve to just flat-out ask Phantom how he felt about me.**

 **"** **Phantom..." I started, but was interrupted when his breath hiccupped blue and a look of annoyance flickered over his face.**

 **"** **Ghost sense?" I sighed.**

 **"** **Ghost sense," he confirmed.**

 **That was about the time the coffee machines went bonkers. There could only be two ghosts responsible for this, and with my luck, it probably wasn't the Lunch Lady. My pessimism was warranted because the next minute, Uncle Technus appeared in the middle of the shop, glaring around.**

 **He announced, "I, Technus, Master of all Technology, have come seeking a particular person. There is no need for senseless panic. I will be collecting them and will be on my way, for I have no time to conquer your world with my impressive powers!"**

 **Sigh. Same old Technus. I would have been worried about blowing my cover, but I had an ecto-weapon on me, courtesy of Valerie. She was a really cool girl. We were gonna hang out next weekend and do target practice on some ghosts. I shot my third uncle in the face. He screeched and tumbled back behind the counter, losing his grip on the floating espresso makers. Phantom looked impressed.**

 **"** **Valerie?"**

 **"** **Valerie."**

 **He then took care of most of the rest of the fight, swiping and dodging. I cleared out the civilians while he kept up a shield. I shot Technus in the back and he turned on me, practically snarling. He struck me with an ecto-blast and dang if it didn't hurt like heck. The side of my neck was burning. Clearly, the time for warning shots was over. This was the first time I had ever actually been really scared of one of my uncles. I wouldn't have expected it to be Technus, to be honest. Uncle Fright, maybe. But as he loomed over me, looking so mad, I was actually afraid of my geeky sort-of relative. Luckily, Phantom hoovered him up with the Thermos, so I didn't have to break out of my petrified state until he was gone with a howl of defeated rage.**

 **"** **Hey, you okay? You're usually pretty unintimidated, but you kinda froze there," Phantom pointed out.**

 **"** **Um, yeah. Sorry. I just... I don't know. I've never been scared like that before. He looked so... angry."**

 **"** **Well, it happens to the best of us. You want me to take you home?" he offered.**

 **I felt like a coward, but I just bit my lip and nodded, giving him permission to carry me. He reached for me, then pulled back, alarmed.**

 **"** **You're hurt! Like, really hurt. That looks bad," he exclaimed, gently brushing my burn with his fingertips. I hissed in pain and he pulled back guiltily. "Sorry! Sorry. Here. Maybe I can help."**

 **He coated my wound in a light layer of ghostly frost. The heat seeped out of it and the pain started to numb. I immediately felt better. I sighed in relief.**

 **"** **Are you okay to be carried now? Where do you want to go? A hospital, or..." he asked.**

 **"** **Just take me home. I have a first aid kit there. You think you can help me get a bandage on this?"**

 **"** **Yeah," he smirked. "I have a little experience with first aid."**

 **He scooped me up and carried me back to my apartment. He laid me down on the couch and fetched the kit from under the sink, where I told him it was. He dissolved the ice and began to carefully rub salve into my neck in gentle circles. I must have made some kind of 'Mmmm' noise because he stopped and looked at me funny.**

 **"** **I'm fine. Keep going."**

 **He resumed applying the medicine and placed the gauze pad over the burned area, smoothing down the adhesive edges with gentle fingers. I had to hold myself back from leaning into his touch. He put everything away, then joined me on the couch. Without thinking, I leaned my head on his shoulder. He stiffened for a second, then relaxed and slid his arm around my waist. I curled my legs up underneath me and snuggled into his side. We were quiet for a while. It was a little weird that his chest didn't rise and fall with his breathing, but the coolness of his skin was nice in the overly warm apartment. The AC had gone the same way as the fridge. I was getting sleepy in this cozy position when Phantom spoke, startling me.**

 **"** **I'm so sorry, Windy."**

 **"** **What are you sorry for?"**

 **"** **An enemy of mine came after me, and you're hurt because of it. It's my fault you have that burn on your neck," he apologized.**

 **"** **Hey, it's not your fault. You saved me, again. And it's not that bad. I'm a fast healer. It'll be gone in a couple of days. If I'm lucky, I'll get a sexy scar and I'll have a pretty great story behind it if anybody asks. 'So, I was on this date with this really great guy. He's a ghost, which is pretty neat. Suddenly, this other ghost hijacked the coffee machines. We fought valiantly. I was wounded in battle. It looked like all was lost, when suddenly, my date swoops in and defeats our evil opponent and rescues me. Chivalry is really hot, by the way. He also knows his way around a first aid kit, and he flew me home. He was really sweet and I'm glad we got to hang out.' Something like that," I replied.**

 **"** **You're really not blaming me?"**

 **"** **Of course not, goofball. You didn't do anything wrong. I'm just sorry we got interrupted. Then again, this is a pretty favorable outcome," I purred, nuzzling his chest.**

 **I looked up at him and he looked down at me, and it was like nothing existed outside of his eyes on mine. It was a pretty forgone conclusion that we should kiss then. We did, and it was awesome.**

 ** _Danny_**

 **I had planned to make things less complicated, not more. That had not been how it turned out. I kept getting to know Tempest and Windy. Kissing happened again. I was getting in deeper and deeper, and I knew it had to stop, but I didn't know how. They were both so great. But there were obstacles, which was made more evident to me during an incident that happened while I was hanging out with Tempest later that same weekend.**

 **We were just strolling by the pond in the middle of the park. There weren't many people out this early in the morning. We were just talking and laughing. Tempest was teasing me about my dislike of swimming and playfully nudged me towards the pond like she was going to push me in. I yelled and pretended that I was about to fall, which was believable thanks to my legendary clumsiness. She panicked and reached for me, but when I righted myself, we crashed into each other and ended up actually falling into the pond. We climbed out together, soaked to the skin, laughing.**

 **"** **Let me take care of that," Tempest chuckled.**

 **Her eyes glowed brighter and a hot wind whirled around us, whipping her scarlet hair around her head and making my shirt flap in the breeze. We were dry almost instantly. Tempest looked at me and laughed so hard tears came to her eyes.**

 **"** **What?"**

 **"** **Your hair," she gasped, "looks ridiculous. It's so fluffy. Let me fix it."**

 **She came over and ran her hands over my head, smoothing down the unruly locks. She stepped back to admire her handiwork. The warm smile suddenly dropped off her face and she looked terrified.**

 **"** **Look out!" she shouted, tackling me to the ground.**

 **I felt the heat of an ecto-blast pass over our heads. Tempest was crouched over me, covering me with her body, braced like she expected a blow. She was trying to shield me. Depending on how badly this went, would I give up the secret to go ghost and protect her? She'd hate me for hiding this from her. But I'd lose her either way if this threat managed to get in a really bad hit.**

 **My worst fears were confirmed when I heard our attacker shout, "Get off him, spook!"**

 **Valerie. I groaned mentally. I'd have better luck talking sense into a brick wall, but if her only goal here was protecting me, I just had to convince her I was fine. I just had to convince the Red Huntress not to shoot at a ghost who was right in front of her. We were doomed.**

 **Tempest rolled off of me and held up her hands, forming an orange shield around the two of us. More of Valerie's lasers slammed into it, making it flicker, but a ghost missile took it out, knocking Tempest down. She rolled into my legs, and I hopped over her to stand in front of her limp form. Her eyes struggled open.**

 **"** **Calm down, Val!" I shouted at the sky. "She's not trying to hurt me!"**

 **"** ** _That's_** **Valerie? From the way you described her, she sounded much less like a prejudiced** ** _homicidal maniac_** **," Tempest hissed.**

 **I flinched guiltily. She had a point. From the ghost perspective, Valerie seemed like the serial killer from scary stories, the monster under the bed. Or rather, in the sky. I knew from personal experience that being hunted by Valerie was the opposite of fun.**

 **"** **I promise, she's usually much nicer," I apologized.**

 **"** **What? Danny, get away from her. She's a ghost!" Val shouted.**

 **"** **I know that. That doesn't make her evil," I called.**

 **Valerie dropped to the ground and stood in front of us, looking incredulous behind her visor.**

 **"** **Yes, it does," she said slowly, as though talking to a child. "Ghosts are evil. End of story. Besides, I saw her push you into the lake."**

 **"** **That was an accident, and we both fell in. She dried us off. She fixed my hair. We were just talking," I told her. "She's my friend."**

 **Tempest stood up behind me, and Val's arm whipped to aim her wrist cannon at the ghost's head. I calmly stepped in the way.**

 **"** **Danny, what are you doing?"**

 **"** **Val, I told you. She's my friend. We're here... together. On a date," I admitted.**

 **I had no idea how Val would react, but I wasn't ashamed of Tempest. This was the only way I could see to keep her safe without fighting. Val was quiet for a long while. She looked over my shoulder at Tempest, narrowing her eyes at her.**

 **"** **Danny, you can't date a ghost. She's dead. She's green. She's dangerous. You just can't- I'm trying to protect you," she sighed.**

 **"** **I know, but I really like her. She's not the way you think she is. She's pretty great, actually," I said, smiling at Tempest over my shoulder. She smiled back tightly. Clearly, this was making her anxious, but she liked the compliment.**

 **"** **This conversation isn't over. I don't know what you've done to him, spook, but I'm gonna figure it out and I'm gonna save him," Val growled, flying off on her jet sled.**

 **Tempest sighed deeply. "I get where she's coming from, but I really hate being discriminated against for the way I look. I wasn't hurting anybody. I would never. But she doesn't know that because she wouldn't listen even if I told her. Do I need to worry about her?"**

 **"** **Probably. Val doesn't really see clearly when it comes to ghosts. She has Phantom at the top of her target list. She blames him for ruining her life," I told her.**

 **"** **Did he?"**

 **"** **No, his ghost dog made some trouble and got her dad fired, but it wasn't his fault. But she sees it as malicious intent. She hates him," I said, careful to use the third person. Double identities were tough.**

 **"** **I think I just beat him to the top of her most wanted list," she sighed. "Sorry I got her mad at you."**

 **"** **What? I mean, at worst, she thinks I'm an idiot, which isn't exactly new. You're the one she's gunning for. I'm sorry that it's my fault she's hunting you now," I apologized.**

 **"** **Nothing I'm not used to," she chuckled. "Seriously. I'm fine. You really saved me, talking her down like that. I'm sorry she thinks less of you. She's your friend. She shouldn't let her prejudiced opinions of ghosts get in the way of trusting you," she fumed.**

 **I put a calming hand on her shoulder. "I don't care that Val thinks I'm crazy. I'm just glad you're okay. I wish people could see you the way I see you."**

 **"** **And how is that?"**

 **"** **Beautiful," I murmured, placing a kiss on her hand.**

 **"** **Selfless," I continued, kissing her cheek.**

 **Her smile got wider, pointed teeth showing, tiger eyes sparking with mischief.**

 **"** **Amazing," I whispered, face hovering close to hers, teasing her by holding very still just a hair's breadth away from her lips.**

 **It got to be too much for her to wait and her hands came up to clasp the back of my head, fingers wound through my hair. She looked at me, grinning, and growled playfully, "Get over here, you."**

 **Her mouth crashed onto mine and we kissed, and it was very, very nice. I was mentally crowing at my smoothness and my success in getting her to feel better about being judged as a monster for doing nothing wrong. When had I gotten so good with girls? When I found the right one.**

 **I really wish I had known that Valerie hadn't flown as far as I thought. We got that moment uninterrupted- I have to thank Val for that, at least. However, the next day at school was rough on me, and on Tempest, though I didn't know it was her, at the time. I thought that I was responsible for Windy's social downfall as well as my own because of my coffee-shop episode with her as Phantom. I mean, I was, but I didn't know she was also Tempest.**

 **I wonder what would have happened if I had given into the peer pressure to stop, or if Windy hadn't. Would we have still found out about each other? Would it have ended the way it did?**

 **Wondering about changing the Past,**

 **Danny**

 **A/N: What is this? Is this the mythical creature known as an update? It is! Sorry it takes so long to get here. Hopefully I'll be able to present more of these unicorns to my dear readers now that school is out. Fingers crossed! Love, Me.**


	5. Chapter 4: Haters Gonna Hate

Disclaimer: I own nothing but the character of Tempest/Windy and this story. Danny Phantom and its associated characters etc. are not mine.

The Worlds Are Against Us

 _Tempest_

After the thing with Valerie, I should have expected trouble at school, but I was caught by surprise when I saw Danny walking with his shoulders hunched, head down, like he was trying to make a shield out of his body to shut out the world. It was only then that I noticed all of the weird looks he was getting, some of them outright hostile. I hurried over to meet him at his locker, but I was met with obstacles.

There were several knots of kids talking rapidly. I caught bits and pieces as I shoved my way through.

"Did you hear? Fenton was-"

"Who cares about that loser? _Phantom_ was spotted with-"

"Ghosts are evil! And dead. There's no way that what he's doing is okay..."

"Nah, girl. Have you _seen_ the one that we're talking about? Hot as-"

"Dude, is that her?"

"Do you think he knows? I heard Valerie..."

"Keep our students safe! We've got to educate our youth to prevent this unnatural trend from spreading like a disease. Here, take a flyer..."

I made it past the morning hallway crowd only to be stopped by a nerdy-looking kid, Mikey I think it was, stepping into my path.

"Hey, are you that girl who-" he started in a nasally voice.

"Probably not," I cut him off. "Listen, sorry, but I have somewhere to be. Have a nice day."

I sidestepped him and made it to my friend as he was shutting his locker.

"Danny, are you okay? What's wrong? What is up with everybody?" I asked him anxiously.

"One question at a time, Windy," he said with a tired smile.

"No. No. That is too strict a limit on my super-computer-like thought processes. I'll just combine all the questions into one question. Well, question and statement. The school seems to have gone completely crazy. What does it have to do with you?" I asked.

He rubbed the back of his neck nervously. "Well... um. I've been seeing this girl, secretly. And Valerie spotted us together at the park, and now she thinks I'm in some kind of trouble because... my girlfriend's a ghost. Her name is Tempest and she's really cool. Val must have told some people and the story is all over school. I've gotten mixed reactions. Sam's pissed I didn't tell her. Tucker's mad I didn't see if she had any hot ghost friends and that I didn't tell him either. Jazz is worried, but she already had it mostly figured out. Some people have been just curious or even impressed, but most people are shocked and appalled and totally freaking out," he sighed. "I'm pretty sure the majority of the students hate me and the staff thinks I need psychiatric help. It's been a rough morning."

"Oh, Danny. I'm so sorry," I spoke softly, throwing my arms around him in a tight hug.

It was all my fault. Danny was suffering because of his involvement with me. Well, ghost me. I had to let him know that human me was on his side no matter what.

"You don't think I'm some kind of weirdo?"

"I know you're the _best_ kind of weirdo, and if anybody is gonna understand, it would be me. I've been seeing a ghost in secret, too. It's Phantom. He's everything you'd expect from a hero, but he's also sweet and funny and a little self-conscious. That surprised me, but it made him seem more normal, you know? Not so unattainably perfect," I admitted shyly.

"So it's not just me they're shooting death glares at?" he asked, looking a bit embarrassed.

"What?"

Now that I was looking around, I noticed that I was getting my share of hostile looks. Great. They must have heard about the coffee shop. I told Danny the story, and he sympathized with me, having been interrupted by unwanted ghosts before. I was glad to see him smile again. I was so lost in those remarkable blue eyes that I didn't hear the click of heels rapidly approaching us until a second before I felt the bite of a slap across my face. I stumbled back in surprise, bumping my back against the lockers. I looked up to see who had hit me, holding my stinging cheek. It was none other than Paulina Sanchez, 5'8" of burning Latina fury.

"Phantom is _mine_ , you hippie freak!" she screeched. "You'll pay for trying to steal him away from me."

She raised a hand to strike me again and I debated whether it was worth blowing my cover as "Normal Teenage Girl Who Doesn't Know Hand to Hand Combat" to punch that snarl off her face. I didn't have to decide because a strong male hand was gripping her wrist. Danny stood protectively in front of me. The look on his face wasn't one I'd ever seen him make before, but it struck me as familiar somehow. His blue gaze was pure steel, and he regarded his former crush so coldly it made _me_ shiver.

"What are you doing, geek?" Paulina snapped, but I could tell she was off-balance.

She'd never seen the ordinarily meek and unassuming Danny like this before either. This was a side of him Casper High had never witnessed. I had only glimpsed it, but kindhearted Danny wasn't about to let me get hurt on his watch. I liked this sudden stubborn streak. It was more than a little bit attractive.

"I'm not letting you touch her again. She's my friend, and I won't let her be pushed around by the likes of you," Danny replied evenly, his iron grip not relaxing on her wrist.

"What is that supposed to mean?" she asked, her voice jumping an octave.

"It means you're pathetic, Paulina," he answered.

The entire hallway gasped collectively.

"Phantom isn't _yours_. He never was. Name one time he explicitly said or did something to indicate he liked you that way even a little bit. Nevermind, you can't. Because it's all in your head. You're not his soulmate, you're his stalker. Don't think nobody has noticed that creepy shrine in your locker. You have no claim on him, and that means Windy didn't do anything wrong. So lay off," he finished, shoving her hand away hard enough to make her take a step back.

That was when all heck broke loose.

The crowd was yelling. The jocks that had been standing gape-mouthed behind Paulina sprang into action, hands reaching for Danny. That was unacceptable. He was too skinny to defend himself against these huge guys, so I would have to do it. I shoved him behind me and kicked two of them in the family jewels before another two had me by the wrists and ankles, holding me struggling at chest level. Danny surprised me again by knocking their feet out from under them with a sweeping kick. They let go of me so they could use their hands to catch themselves, but Danny caught me before I could hit the ground, guiding my feet gently to the floor.

"Run," he whispered, taking my hand.

I needed no further encouragement. I squeezed his fingers tightly and together we sprinted down the hallway. Angry shouts followed us, then running footsteps, but Danny tugged me around a corner and into a janitor's closet, yanking the door closed as quickly and quietly as possible. We stood there in the dark, chest to chest, breathing heavily, listening for our pursuers. The sound of pounding feet came and went, but still we didn't move. Our eyes adjusted to the dimness and we regarded each other silently, grinning like mad.

"I can't believe we just did that!" I whispered excitedly.

At the same time, Danny whispered, "You were amazing!"

We shared a laugh that was mostly relief with just a dash of hysteria.

I hated to ruin the moment, but I had to ask, "Danny, what do we do now? Just because they didn't beat us up this time doesn't mean they'll hate us any less when we leave this closet."

"I know," he sighed. "But we don't have to let them get to us. I've been a punching bag for years. I can take being even more of a social outcast than normal, no problem. So I guess we just carry on as usual."

"We watch each others' backs. You're not an outcast alone. You've got me, and I'm not gonna judge you or leave you behind. I promise," I swore.

Danny huffed out a long breath that tickled my face with the little hairs that framed it. He ran a hand through his unruly black locks.

"So we go out there and face the scariest thing known to man: teenagers. Together?" he asked.

"Together," I affirmed.

Danny opened the door and the two of us stepped blinking into the light. We got some odd looks, but Danny just stared them down and put a protective hand on my shoulder, hovering it near the edge of my burn like he was shielding it. I found it really sweet. The moment couldn't last forever, though.

 _Danny_

It only got harder from there. Windy and I faced constant ridicule, even got things thrown at our heads. Valerie tried to talk to me in the hallway, and to Windy. She was clearly worried about two of her few friends. I noticed how Windy flinched away from Val from the second she walked up, almost like she was afraid of her. The second Val opened her mouth and started to say something about how ghosts were dangerous, Windy shut her down. It occurred to me that I'd never seen her really angry.

"You don't understand! You won't even _try_ to understand. Not every ghost is evil. Have you even bothered to listen to Phantom's side of the story about what happened to you? Have you ever done anything but shoot at him? He has only ever tried to help people, and you want to kill him. Again. And Danny's love life is none of your concern either. You're not his keeper. He can make his own decisions, and so can I. So drop it, already!" she screamed, tears in her eyes.

We were gathering a crowd, so I took her hand and murmured, "C'mon, Windy. You've made your point. Let's go."

I glanced back at Val, and I saw her looking lost and upset. She was trying to help, in her own way, but she'd never considered other points of view. Windy had given her a lot to think about, albeit with really loud delivery. I led her to an unused corner of the library and sat her down on the couch. I put my arm around her shoulders and she leaned her head on my chest, sniffling.

"You wanna talk about it?"

"I just- Val is my friend. I thought I could make her understand. I thought she trusted me. Everything at school is awful, and it's her fault. At least the stuff with you, anyway. I can't help but feel betrayed, you know? I can't stand it here, and home is-" she cut herself off, looking at me with panic, and I realized she'd never told Fenton about her living situation.

"Shhh," I said, comforting her. "We're gonna survive this. They'll move on eventually. And until then, we've got each other, right?"

"Right," she answered, clinging to my shirt like a life raft in a hurricane.

And that was just day one.

Obviously, my parents found out. How could they not? I came home from school that day exhausted, too spent to do more than collapse on my bed until time for patrol. I was anxious to check on Windy. Her day had been as hard as mine had, probably harder if she wasn't used to being a pariah like I was. I needed to know how she was holding up. Sam and Tuck hadn't replied to my texts. I owed them a real apology next time I saw them.

Anyway, I was tired, frustrated, and even kinda angry about being judged, so the last thing I wanted to see waiting for me in my living room was an intervention. But that was what was there. My parents, Jazz, Val, and weirdly Mr. Lancer were all standing there, looking like they were about to kick a puppy already headed to the vet. I slammed the door harder than necessary and growled in frustration. Then I flopped down on the couch, crossed my arms, and glared at the assembled people.

"Alright. Let's get this over with," I sighed.

"Danny, we're just worried about you, sweetie. I just want to perform a few tests to check for ghostly influence..." my mom began.

"No."

"What? Danny, you're not making sense. For you to be- to be _dating_ a ghost," she spoke distastefully, "there would have to be some kind of mind control involved."

"Yeah," my dad pitched in. "No son of ours would be friendly with any spooks unless he didn't have a choice. We promise none of the tests will hurt."

"Is that what this is about? It's hurting your _reputation_ for the son of ghost hunters to be dating a ghost. Nice. I hate to break it to you, but there's no mind control. This was all me, _my_ choice," I snapped.

"Mr. Fenton, you do realize the implications of this," Mr. Lancer pointed out. "Ghosts are not alive. This cannot be a long-term relationship, even if it was healthy."

"Arguably, it's the longest possible term relationship once I kick the bucket several decades from now. Not even death do us part," I snarked.

"This is _serious_ , Danny!" Val cried. "Ghosts are evil, and dangerous. What if you're with her and get caught in the middle of a fight between her and another ghost? You could get hurt really badly."

"I can take care of myself, Val. Tempest's fighting strategy seems to mostly be avoidance anyway," I pointed out reasonably. I resisted the urge to point out that this had been her excuse for breaking up with me, too.

"Look, Danny. I believe in your ability to decide things for yourself. You're a responsible kid. And I believe in ghost equality, but are you really sure that this is what's best for you and Tempest? I just want to hear your side," my sister prodded gently.

"We both know that this isn't gonna last forever. There are obvious obstacles. And we're like, 15. But we both decided that we wanted as much time as we could get, no matter how long it is or how short. She's really great, one of the kindest and warmest people that I've ever met. I think all of you would really like her if you just gave her a chance," I pleaded.

That went over about as well as I expected it to. Long story short, I wound up being held down with a half a dozen ghost devices pointed at my face.

"Hold still, sweetie. I need to get an accurate reading," Mom huffed as I bucked under the hindrance of four pairs of hands.

Jazz was the one standing back, trying to calm everybody down. Lancer and Val had my legs, and my parents were holding my arms so they could get the devices closer to my head. Just then, there was a knock at the door, hesitant and soft. Jazz sprinted to answer it, hoping the shame of being seen restraining a teenage boy would make my well-meaning captors let me go. My sister flung the door open to reveal Windy, the other person involved in the scandal that was driving Amity mad.

"Oh. Hey, Jazz. Danny said I could come by any time, and today has been pretty rough. I could use someone to talk to. I swear, it's like the whole town has gone..." she trailed off as she noticed my predicament on the floor. "Crazy," she finished. "Um, what exactly is going on here? Are you in trouble, Danny? Do you need help? Because I think I could take the two old guys if I have to."

Mr. Lancer and my dad had the nerve to look offended.

"I'm only sort of in trouble. You know Val and Mr. Lancer, of course," I replied calmly, as though this happened every day. I mean, it might as well in this town.

"Of course," she answered, her voice dripping icy venom. So she was still mad at Valerie, then.

"The other two are my parents. They're scanning me for ghostly influence, not precisely with my permission," I continued.

"It looks like the crazy followed you home. You want to stay at my place for a couple days till this blows over?" she offered carefully, still eyeing my parents and the others distrustfully.

I realized how much it took out of her to offer. As far as she knew, I had no idea that her place was a sort of crappy apartment with no functioning A/C or fridge and no people besides her. Turning her down would make it unlikely she'd ever be willing to let me in again, and I could use a break in peace and quiet.

"Yeah. That would be great," I answered. "Let me grab a couple things."

I slid out from the grips that had relaxed in utter shock. I think my parents understood they had crossed a line, and they just let me leave. Jazz mouthed that she'd handle patrol. I nodded my thanks.

We got back to her apartment and she stumbled through the explanation she'd given my ghost alter ego. I think she appreciated me rolling with it and not trying to tell her what to do. We talked about school that day, about our ghostly significant others, about anything, really. We fell asleep holding each other on her couch.

The next days were difficult. More taunting and whispering and vague threats flew around. More concerned adults tried to tell us how to live our lives. It got to the point where she and I were as in sync telling people to mind their own business as Sam and I were when we had to deny being lovebirds. Speaking of Sam, the one bright spot in that week was that she and Tucker stood by us. They forgave me for keeping secrets. The two of us against the world became four, and it became a lot more manageable.

I could tell it was taking a toll on Windy, though. She folded in on herself and seemed to feel guiltier every day for the situation. She was blaming herself for everything. Every harsh word seemed to hit her like a physical blow. She wasn't eating or sleeping well, and I was starting to be afraid that one day she'd shrink down so far from that cheerful, confident girl I'd met that she'd just disappear on me.

 _Tempest_

Everything was awful. People were threatening us in the halls and on the streets. The moments were rare that we let go of each other's hands when we were in the same room. It felt like my carefully crafted new life was crumbling around me. I thought I'd finally found a place where I could be accepted, but the humans had turned on me just like the ghosts. The shattering of my hopes was bad enough, but the guilt over ruining Danny's life too was eating me alive.

He got bullied even more than usual and he only really stood up for himself if he was standing up for the two of us together. His best friends had been hurt about him keeping secrets. I was glad they'd come around, but that first day had scared me into thinking I'd maybe cost Danny his only two friends.

I did a lot of soul searching, and there was only one answer I came up with to our predicament. I'd have to break it off with Danny as my ghost self and with Phantom as my human self. It was the only way to get people to stop throwing things at our heads and insulting and threatening us. I would confess my feelings for Danny in my human form and hope to whatever deity was listening that he felt the same about Windy as he did about Tempest. I felt bad about ditching Phantom, but it was the only way. He was a great guy and all, but Danny had been my rock throughout this insanity and had been the first person to ever make me feel like I was beautiful and truly loved. I had made my choice.

The afternoon after I came to my decision, I signaled to Danny in ghost form from the bushes outside the school. He met me in the alley near the dumpsters with a warm smile. How could he still look at me like that, when it was my fault that everything at school was so bad for him?

"Hey, Sparky," he greeted with a lopsided grin.

My heart fluttered at the nickname.

"Hey yourself," I retorted quietly, trying to smile back.

He picked up on my tension and frowned slightly. "What's wrong?"

"I- I think... I think that maybe I- that we..." I stammered. Come on, Tempest. Spit it out!

"What is it?" he asked, his brow tightening in concern.

He reached for me as though to place a tender hand on my arm. I floated back a foot. I wanted him to touch me so bad, to comfort me. But if he did, that would make this too hard and I wasn't sure I could go through with it.

"I think we should break up," I blurted, biting my lip to hold back tears.

"What? Why? Did I do something wrong? Is this about Valerie?" he questioned.

"No. I'm no good for you, Danny. I'm the whole reason you're in this mess at school, and I can't bear to be the cause of your suffering. I don't want to go, but I think it's for the best," I explained. "I'll see you around, maybe?"

I tried to fly off, but he grabbed my wrist. "You don't have to go. I don't care what they think," he declared vehemently. "Stay, please."

"I can't. We both knew this would never last. The crazy townspeople are just the catalyst for the inevitable. I'm sorry. So sorry. But it's over. For your own good," I insisted, tugging my arm out of his grasp and turning away.

"But I don't want that. I want you," he said quietly.

I couldn't help myself. I flew back for one last core-pounding kiss. Then I pulled back, took his face in my hands, and looked him straight in the eyes.

"I know, Danny. I'm sorry, but it's for the best. Goodbye," I whispered.

I took off at top speeds for the apartment, flicking into invisibility once I passed the top of the school's roof. I heard him yell my name, but I couldn't bear to look back. I still had a hard job to do yet.

I stood on the roof. Danny was downstairs, asleep on the couch. He'd been tense and quiet at dinner, which consisted of Kraft mac & cheese and dinosaur-shaped chicken nuggets. All he would say when I asked him what was wrong, struggling to keep a calm mask of ignorance over my face, was: "She broke up with me." He wouldn't talk about it any more than that. I hated that I'd caused him even more pain, but it had to be done. I was only sparing him.

I called Phantom's name out to the night sky, which was appropriately cloudy to reflect my stormy mood. It wasn't long before he swooped around to land at my side. His smile wasn't as bright as usual. It looked tired.

"Rough night on patrol?" I asked.

"More like rough day in general," he sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose.

Well might as well do it band-aid style. Rip it off quickly.

"I'm really sorry, but I'm gonna have to add to that," I groaned, feeling utterly drained.

I was hurting yet another person I cared about.

"Lay it on me," he moaned. "It can't be much worse than what's already happened today."

"I think we should see other people," I said in a rush, waiting for his reaction.

I was not expecting laughter. It was sad laughter, dripping in acid and utter disbelief.

"I was wrong. That was exactly as sucky as the rest of today. Equal amounts of suck," he chuckled sourly.

"I'm sorry," I whispered.

"I know. I honestly was expecting this. You're getting a lot of crap at school for this. I care about you. I don't want to ruin your life, so if this is what you want, I'll just have to deal with losing you too," he sighed.

"So you're okay?" I asked hesitantly.

He laughed bitterly again. "Okay? No, I'm about ten miles past okay. But I'll live. Metaphorically speaking, anyway. It was never gonna last, so why not just end it now? A ghost and a human? It wouldn't have lasted. I'll miss you, Windy. Take care of yourself, okay?"

"I will. You too. Goodnight, Phantom," I choked out.

"Goodnight, Windy," he murmured, placing a gentle kiss at my hairline.

He flew off and I understood how Danny felt earlier that day. The sinking, hollow, lonely feeling in my stomach at being left on the ground (sort of) as my ghostly former significant other floated off into the night, away from me. I heaved a deep sigh. Time to go back inside.

I found Danny on the couch, awake, staring at the ceiling like it either did something to offend him or held the secrets of the universe in its poorly spackled surface. I snuck over to the bed, where I'd been sleeping by myself ever since the second night Danny stayed here, intending to leave him with his thoughts.

"Wait," he called softly.

I halted my steps, turning back and padding over to the couch where he lay stretched out with his arms behind his head. He shifted over, unwound his arms from their position, and patted the space beside him.

"I don't want to make you uncomfortable or anything, but today has been the worst. I could really use a friend right now. Can we do what we did that first night?" he asked nervously.

"Of course," I replied, curling into his side on the couch.

He draped one arm over my waist and tugged me even closer. His sigh ruffled the tiny hairs on the back of my neck with a tickle of warm breath. I wound one leg around his and we fell asleep like that, tangled in each other, breathing matched in perfect rhythm, sharing body heat.

I would like to say that we woke sleepily to the sunshine splashed across the rug, drowsily comfy, but that is sadly untrue.

We woke to pink flames devouring the walls.

A/N: Wow. This was a long one! So, what do you think of the sadness of the breakups? The cuteness of the cuddles? Well, I promise more angst-fluff combos in the next chapter, which may be the last before the epilogue. It's winding down, my lovely readers. We are in the home stretch of this story. Thanks so much for sticking with me for so long. Hugs, Me.


	6. Chapter 5: Power Couple

**A/N:** **So, this is a short chapter. Apologies for that. But I hope that I'll get the last chapter and the epilogue up soon. I have a lot of new DP crossover ideas in the works, so I'm getting anxious to finish up all my works in progress so I can start publishing those. I hope you'll like them. Also, I promise that I'm working on Summoned. My well of inspiration for that story only has half a foot of water in it right now, but I will not abandon the project, no matter how long the hiatus may end up being or how many things are getting published in the meantime.**

So This Love Triangle/Rectangle Was Really Just a Line?

 _Danny_

In my nightmare, I was wrapped in the tentacles of an ectopus made out of lava. The heat was unbearable and I could feel my skin start to blister. I thrashed in my sleep, desperate to escape the monster, and woke myself up. But the uncomfortable heat was still there. I sat up, careful not to disturb Windy and searched for the source. It didn't take me long to find it, and my efforts to not wake Windy were wasted because I was suddenly shaking her shoulder and screaming at her to do just that.

She sat bolt upright and her eyes roved wildly around, looking for the source of concern. She saw the same thing I had: pink fire was crawling slowly around the walls of the apartment. It was hottest near the door, so that escape was out. The window that led to the fire escape was also a bust because a certain fanged fruitloop of a ghost was hovering there, grinning evilly.

"Plasmius," I growled.

"Ah, Daniel. Good to see you again. Your presence is an unexpected wrinkle, but one I can work around," he greeted pleasantly.

"Wait, unexpected? So you didn't come here for me?" I asked incredulously.

"Not this time, my boy. While you are certainly a valuable target for my schemes, _she_ is an even more precious creature," he chuckled, actually licking his lips with a forked tongue while gesturing at Windy. Eww.

I stepped in front of Windy, holding one of her hands. I put on my most defiant expression and kept Vlad talking while I looked for a way out.

"Windy? She's a regular human. An awesome one, but still. What do you want with her?"

"Oh, little badger. You have no _idea_ what you are protecting. She's no ordinary human, but something far more rare, something entirely unique in all history. Would you like to tell him, or should I?" he asked in a saccharine voice.

Windy bit her lip, looking unsure, and more than a bit afraid. She looked at me with such sad eyes. Her face contorted as she was struggling with indecision. She wanted to tell me, but she also seemed reluctant to. What secret was so terrible, so important, that she felt like she had to keep it from me? I thought we were close. Well, not as close as she and Phantom had been, but still. The flames were starting to get worryingly high. I understood that this was a life-altering moment for her, but time was running short and she needed to hurry up a bit if she didn't want us both fried crispy style. She lowered her gaze to the floor, biting her lip. She closed her eyes and took a shuddering breath. It looked like she had decided to tell me whatever it was.

"Danny, there's something I've been keeping from you. I'm sorry, but I didn't think you'd understand. I- I'm so, so sorry," she sighed. "It's easier to show than tell, so... here goes."

She stepped away from me, closer to Plasmius, to danger. I reached out a hand to draw her back, but with a flash of orange light and a set of rings whooshing from her waist to her extremities, she transformed into someone familiar. Tempest. Once I got over the surprise, I felt so freaking stupid. Both runaways. Never seen together. Both with overbearing dads. Both with weather names. How had I not seen it sooner? But that meant... that we had just been dating each other normally, and there had never been a choice between her and Windy. No love triangle. Weird. My life was never that simple. Maybe that was why I hadn't expected this.

Her guilty golden eyes found mine and she looked so remorseful, but also nervous, like she was afraid I'd freak out or tell her to get lost. I almost laughed out loud. She was apparently the only ghost in existence who had no idea exactly how much I understood where she was coming from.

"Tempest is the only human-ghost hybrid that was born, not made. Perhaps the most scientifically interesting specimen I have ever encountered," Vlad purred. "So, not to burst your bubble, but this isn't about you. I came for her."

That _was_ interesting. The implications were more than a little staggering. I'd have to ask her about it later. But for now, I had evil half-ghost butt to kick and a beautiful girl to help save. I mean, Tempest could handle herself really well, but Vlad was a tough opponent. She was going to need an assist on this one.

While we were having our silent staring contest thing, the fire had moved on from the tacky wallpaper and was devouring some of the stained carpet. Her secret was out, and mine should logically follow. It was only fair, and there was no time like the present.

"Windy? I forgive you. And I'm sorry, too," I said.

"For what, Danny?"

"For keeping secrets of my own. Going ghost!" I shouted, and the familiar rings of white light changed me into my ghost half.

If it hadn't been such a tense moment, her bugged-out eyes and gaping expression of complete surprise would have been comical. With her secret, I was honestly surprised she hadn't figured it out sooner. Then again, neither had I, so...

"I- But you- and we..." she stammered.

"Yep."

"Wow. My love life just got a whole lot less complicated than I thought," she smiled.

I couldn't help but laugh out loud, but Plasmius wasn't going to be ignored.

"Yes, we get it, you're both utterly clueless," he snapped with a roll of his eyes. "Now can we get on with me framing the protestors for the untimely death of Miss Pells? I do not have all night, and neither does this apartment."

"What protestors?" we asked in unison.

"The ones who are against ghost-human relationships. They formed a loose organization not long after the news about you two came out. It was only a matter of time before such a hate group went to extremes, like, say, burning down a teenage girl's apartment with her in it," he sneered. "Since you're here as well, Daniel, I get two birds with one stone. I can make you both disappear with no questions asked because people will think they already know the tragic story."

"You're a seriously crazed-up fruitloop. You know that, right?" I checked.

"No, what I am is a very lucky man that none of the other ghosts monitor human communications. Otherwise, they would have found you first, even without ghost sense to aid them in your human form. Now, will you cooperate or are you going to be difficult about this?" he inquired.

Tempest and I exchanged a look, then manic smiles. "Difficult," we chorused.

We punctuated that statement by punching Vlad in the face at the same time. It was a hard fight, especially since my ice core did not jive with the flames eating up the walls. They did not respond to my attempts to extinguish them with ice. Stupid persistent ecto-fire. Plasmius had years on both of us, but we had him outnumbered, and therefore out-maneuvered as long as we didn't give him a chance to duplicate.

We tag teamed with her weather powers and mine, along with shields and ghost rays. Between the two of us, we managed to send him running, hissing about revenge. The apartment was beyond saving, and we just managed to grab our stuff, evacuate the building, and escape before the entire place was consumed by flames. We looked at each other on the street below, changing back to human form at the same time in the shadows. Then I held a crying Windy as she watched her home burn. There was time for explanations later. Right now, we just basked in the fact that we had faced a powerful bad guy and survived, and let it soften the loss of this safe space the slightest bit.

That was how the fire department found us, embracing, soot-covered, and completely exhausted. Together.

My parents were called, obviously, and they came to pick us up from the police station. We'd worked out our story already. Plasmius had already given us most of it. I had been staying over because her parents were out of town and the threats had been getting scary. We had woken up to a note about unholy unions painted on the wall in green and fire everywhere. Our respective ghost exes had showed up to investigate the fire and saved everyone. Witnesses backed that part of the statement up.

I explained to Mom and Dad that Windy's parents couldn't be reached and asked if she could stay with us. They agreed. I think they were mostly glad we'd given up on dating ghosts. The story we told was that we had gotten really close while facing all the prejudice together and had fallen in love. Our ghosts took it really well and actually hit it off together, so everyone was happy, other than the part where Windy lost her home.

Windy was supposed to sleep on an air mattress in Jazz's room, but she snuck away in the early morning hours to slip into my room. Without needing to speak, we understood each other. I moved over and she curled into my side. It was the safest either of us had felt in weeks.

We walked into school the next day with heads held high, hands intertwined. She was wearing one of my shirts because all of her clothes had needed washing and I was closer to her size than Jazz. We had been holding hands since the insanity began, but this was different. We weren't facing a common threat, but we were together. Like, _together_ together. People probably noticed, were probably talking about it and the fire last night, but neither of us noticed. We couldn't stop smiling at each other. We had finally found someone who understood what it was like to be us. A half-ghost teenager trying to live their life and keep people safe. It was like it was meant to be.

Not like either of us cared about popularity, but the same kids who had been sneering at us last week had latched onto our story and we surpassed Paulina and Dash as the school's favorite power couple. As Tucker put it, we blew every other OTP out of the water. I was a geek, but not as much of a fanboy as him, so I didn't quite get it, but I took it to be a good thing.

We spent a lot of time together. It was unavoidable since she lived with me. We hung out with Sam and Tucker, rotated through ghost patrol to give each other time to do homework and ensure that someone was always home to cover with my parents, and actually got to go on a few dates that didn't get ruined by ghosts. It was the happiest I'd been in a long time. I had a girlfriend who knew me better than anyone other than Tucker and Sam, got healthy amounts of sleep, and was no longer the object of ridicule at school.

Of course, it didn't last.

I may never stop blaming myself for how everything turned out. I miss Windy fiercely.

Maybe I always will.

Here's a sign off or whatever,

Danny


	7. Epilogue: It's Over, Isn't It?

A/N: Sorry, but this long-awaited final chapter is a bit of a rollercoaster, so hold on. I was reluctant to put this one to bed, but all good things must come to an end. Warning for injury and minor sad feels. Disclaimer no one needs: I don't own Danny Phantom, just my OC. Onwards and upwards!

All Things Must Come to an End. There is a Time to Be Born, and a Time to Die. And There's a Time for Everything in Between.

 _Tempest_

Because everything was going well, life was about due to throw me a curveball.

That curveball happened to be on fire and it hit me in the face.

The universe just couldn't screw me over halfway.

Long story short, Plasmius decided that if he couldn't have us, then he would wreck our happiness. He blabbed to my dad.

Danny and I were sitting in th Op Center, catching a rare moment of peace in the house, avoiding talking about the fact that I was still a fugitive like we had been since we got back together.

Then we heard the first thunderclap. I hoped against hope that it was just regular thunder, but then the sky turned from a gentle scudding of clouds to roiling cumulonimbus that blocked out the sun. Then the wind picked up, and it sounded more like the wails of desolate souls than moving air. Danny and I looked at each other, him with a question in his eyes.

"It's my dad," I confirmed.

"I guess it's time, then," he sighed.

"Guess it is. We're not going down without a fight, though, right?"

"Darn straight."

We went ghost and floated up to check the situation.

The status could be best described as really very not good, or, more colorfully, _Apocalypse Five Minutes from Now_.

The dark sky looked like it was boiling with grey and black clouds. The wind was gusting so strongly that the trees looked like they were bowing at the waist, branches whipping so violently that leaves were coming off in swarms. The rain sliced at our skin like knives, icy cold. Lightning flashed intermittently, an eerie, unnatural green.

"DAUGHTER!" The heavens seemed to shudder with the roar of my father's voice.

"I'm here!" I called. "Calm down and talk to me."

Vortex swooped down in all his towering, ghostly glory. His red eyes narrowed at Danny's and my intertwined fingers.

"WHAT... huhh... is the meaning...huhh... of _this_?" he wheezed angrily.

"Danny Phantom and I are in love, Father. Why didn't you ever tell me that there was a half ghost like me who wasn't crazy?"

"He turned against his own kind," he hissed.

"Humans are his kind, too. _My_ kind. Ghosts were aggressive first. He only defends humans from them. He's helped defend ghosts from humans, remember? The GIW and the missile?" I reminded him.

"A situation he and his family caused by abandoning the portal," he growled.

"He can't control his parents. I think everyone can agree that Jack Fenton at least is a wild card at the best of times," I pointed out. "No offense," I directed at my boyfriend.

"None taken."

"Regardless of my opinion of the ghost child, you must return to the Ghost Zone," my father huffed.

"No. I'm staying here. I'm happy here. I can visit, but I'm not going back to me locked in the lair forever," I insisted.

"You are MY daughter, and you will do as I say! You are coming _home_!"

"But this is my home," I asserted. "I have a life here. I don't want to leave. I won't."

"You _will._ "

He called upon the forces of nature and slammed Danny and me down into the pavement, leaving a crater in the street. We struggled upright, but we were knocked down again by a powerful burst of wind laden with heat. Danny was a little worse for the wear when it stopped, not being well-suited to defense against hot attacks. I called up a flurry for him and covered him while he recovered with the biggest lightning balls I could muster.

We fought brilliantly, and we held out for longer than I expected, but my dad was the embodiment of a force of nature, and we were outgunned. I was snatched up like a ragdoll and yanked at high flight speeds down into the basement of Fentonworks.

Danny followed us with a shout, lagging due his injuries. I hadn't fared that much better. We stopped in front of the portal, where my dad paused to open the doors. Danny skidded into tangibility behind us.

"Let her go!" he shouted, hands lit up with ecto-blasts.

"You... huhh.. children don't know what's... huhh... best," he wheezed.

The doors opened and he dragged me through, but I found my second wind and resisted. I pulled and pulled, but I couldn't free my arm from his grip. I was straining as hard as I could, and I had made it as far as the doors, but I couldn't get myself all the way across the threshold. Danny grabbed onto my free hand and pulled, too. My dad scowled and raised a hand to blast Danny in the face. His eyes widened and he freaked out.

"Don't! You'll set off the safeguards-" he tried to warn my dad, but he was ignored. When the blast was let loose, Danny dodged without letting go of my hand, but the whole lab was lit up red in the emergency lights and the alarm went off.

Danny gave a last, mighty yank to try and get me on the right side of the portal, but the doors slammed shut before he could get my left shoulder all the way through.

Now, this would have been bad even if these were just regular metal doors closing on me, ghost healing aside. Because it was literally closing a tear in space-time, being caught even partially in the middle of that sucked _a lot_.

The pain hit me like a semi-truck. I screamed with everything I had in me, and when it cut off with a pop, I thought I'd ruptured my own lungs from the force of my agonized yelling. Nope, that was just the seal between dimensions sending backlash outward from my shoulder. Just.

I'd like to sound selfless and say I remembered the look of total panic and terror on Danny's face as much as my own terror, but at the time, I was most aware of my own fear and pain. I remember him putting pressure on my screaming shoulder, muttering about how I was losing too much ectoplasm. I remember feeling alternately hot and cold, and switching between feeling totally hollow and stuffed with whole universes so tightly I thought I would burst as quick as the flashing of a strobe light.

I remember seeing my reflection in Danny's eyes, seeing it flicker like a computer glitch as a wave of dizziness and disconnected numbness washed through me. At first, once I stabilized a little, only blurring at the edges, it felt like I was simultaneously running on nitrous oxide rushing through my veins in place of blood and like I was so bone-deep weary that I could sleep for years. I settled on the second feeling, and that was exactly what I did.

I was told about this later, but apparently Clockwork heard the fuss through the time screens and owed Danny a favor, so he showed up to put me in a state of hibernation. My ghost half would be operating at lowest capacity, and all human metabolic processes would be put on hold. This was to keep my body from deteriorating any further while it repaired itself from the massive damage.

Unfortunately, this would take about fifty years.

They told me that Danny had told me goodbye with tears in his eyes and promised to write me a letter every day so I would have something from him to read when I woke up. He would catch me up on all of the human happenings I missed while I was under.

I woke up about a month ago, in my old lair, with my father hovering solicitously over me. I think he feels guilty about what happened. Good. I haven't had time to cool down. It's still all fresh to me. I'm still angry.

I haven't had the courage to read Danny's letters yet.

He kept his promise and wrote one every single day, if Uncle Technus' count of how many letters there are is correct, and I have no reason to doubt that it is.

I don't know what scares me more about what I might find in the letters: that Danny moved on from me and had a perfectly happy life with someone else easily, or that he didn't and his grief over me kept him from living.

I don't know which would be worse.

My left arm is gone. As a human, I have a really nice robot prosthesis with ghost weaponry, co-designed by Technus and the Fentons. I'm not sure which Fentons. As a ghost, it's like mostly solid clouds in an ever-changing sky that shifts colors depending on my mood. Lightning periodically crackles down it, like a leak from my internal electrical current.

I haven't aged.

I'm still a teenager, physically and mentally. Those forty-odd years passed without my noticing, and without my permission. I guess that's how time tends to pass for most people, though, so I'm not special.

I want to go into the human world, to see what's changed, to see if Danny's still alive, and see him again. But I can't do that until I have some idea of what's out there, and where he and I stand. And to do that, I have to read the letters.

It hurts. It hurts so badly. Everything I missed.

Danny married Sam, had two beautiful kids that I saw in the pictures he enclosed, and I can't begrudge them their happiness. I don't wish he had stayed hung up on me.

But it still hurts.

There's no guarantee we would have gotten there. Teenage romance typically only _feels_ like it will never end rather than actually working out that way. But I can't help but feel cheated.

The letters aren't all punches to the gut, though.

The things Danny thinks are important to tell me about his day or how the world changed while I was asleep are funny.

He lists the best new bands and puts CDs of mixtapes in, but almost forgets to mention things like presidents and civil rights progress. He seems to be hesitant to include anything about the darker bits in his life and the world. Burying his parents, terrorist attacks, the hard fight to get ghosts rights in the eyes of the GIW- I get the sense that he nearly left these parts out. Maybe he was trying to spare my feelings.

Life worked out pretty great for him. He got to be an astronaut after all, once he pulled up his grades, learning to balance ghost fighting with homework a little better. His kids are a quarter ghost, and they can go on flights with him, though the toddler years of random ghost rays and floating couldn't have been easy. Those stories make me smile because they remind me of my mom's teasing exasperation at my own challenging baby years.

He's a grandpa now, too. The grandkids have a little bit of a medium thing going on, but nothing like their parents.

Sam apparently went on to run the Senate as the Illinois senator. I knew her argumentative and conniving nature would lend itself well to politics and that her sense of justice would lend itself to making change for the better with her power.

Tucker became a tech and media mogul and got a team together that single-handedly solved the energy crisis. I think that they used ectoplasm at least a little, if I'm reading the science speak correctly.

Danny's whole history is laid out richly in paper form between my mismatched hands.

I'm so proud of him for what he made of his life. The most recent letter, the one I'm holding now, is dated from yesterday, so he's still alive and kicking and facing adversity with the same dry humor I remember.

I steel myself to go see him and hesitate on the other side of the Fenton portal, but then I float through and change back into a human. Danny's standing in front of the stairs, and for a second, he looks exactly like I remember him. Then I take in the details.

His black hair is peppered with gray and styled a little more maturely than his old spikes. Aw. I liked the spikes. He's taller, and broader. His Star Trek T-shirt stretches tightly over his barrel chest. Guess he took after Jack after all. There are smile lines on his face, crinkles in the corners of his eyes. He's older, but, those, at least, are the same blue I know.

He's smiling at me.

"Missed you, Sparky."

Tears gather in the corners of my eyes and I launch myself at him and squeeze him in a hug. He grunts a little, but laughs.

"Easy with the bionic arm, Windy. I'm not as durable as I used to be."

"Sorry," I apologize, loosening my grip. "Look at you, Spooky. You got old."

"Yeah, well," he chuckles. "Not all of us spent so long in hypersleep. How are you holding up?"

"Better since I read your letters. You've done pretty well for yourself, huh?"

"I can't complain," he replies. "I'm a lucky man. Wish you could have been here, though."

"Me, too."

We're quiet for a moment.

"So, how would you feel about meeting the whole brood?" he volunteers after a while.

"I'd love to," I reply.

And so I follow my old boyfriend up the stairs from the lab where I almost died- not only into the kitchen where his kids are waiting, but also into a new life. I have a chance to start anew, and I don't intend to waste it.

Despite all I missed out on, there's still a world to see, evil to fight, and a lot of life ahead of me.

What better second chance could a girl ask for?

This journal's full, which is for the best. This is the point where the fresh chapter of my life begins, so I need to start a new book, anyway.

As a storyteller, I've always been rubbish at endings, but that's not what this is. This is a beginning. Maybe that means I'll be able to write down something half-decent.

This was the story of my life from beginning to second beginning.

It was far from conventional, normal, or perfect. But I'm not so sure that I'd change one single line.

This isn't a beginning, but it is a goodbye. The old me died over forty years ago, and that's not a bad thing. People change, and grow, and that's just how it is. With these last lines, I put the old me to rest.

Dedicated to who I was and who I'll become,

The first journal of Windy Pells.

Fondly,

Tempest

A/N part II: So it's finally over. I hope that this wasn't too far out of left field. I tried to foreshadow some. Sorry if the transition from cute coupley things to near-death experience was a bit abrupt. To any lowkey shippers of the pairing in this fic, sorry things did not end in fun times for our halfas. I wanted Danny to be with her, too, but the plot bunnies had other ideas from the get-go of this fic. Thank you all so much for the follows, favorites, and reviews, dear readers! You are all lovely and you inspire me to keep at my writing when the block hits me hard. You're amazing! Hugs, Me.


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